Send all your eco-inquiries to Jennifer Grayson at eco.etiquette@gmail.com. Questions may be edited for length and clarity.
My friend just told me at lunch that she's a weekday vegetarian. Is this a real thing? And isn't it kind of hypocritical?
-Addison
Hypocritical? Maybe. Effective? Yes.
To hardcore veggies, calling yourself a weekday vegetarian may be like saying you're a little bit pregnant: Impossible. After all, if you're ethically opposed to eating animals, the idea of scarfing seitan on Tuesday and then polishing off a porterhouse on Sunday would be tantamount to blasphemy.
But the number of people who count themselves in that category is a small one: 1.3 percent of the US population. (That statistic refers to the number of vegans, who by and large cite ethical reasons for their dietary choices.) That's why I think that the idea of becoming a part-time vegetarian is, for the most part, a brilliant one. It proffers a more moderate approach for the other 99 percent of us who aren't quite ready to quit turkey, um, cold turkey.
From an environmental perspective, I take issue with an all-or-nothing approach to meat eating. We don't insist that people ride their bikes exclusively, or only shop at the farmers market, or never travel by airplane; why should meat consumption be any different?
TreeHugger founder Graham Hill agrees with me. He originated the "weekday vegetarian" concept and outlined it rather eloquently at the TED conference last February. It works just the way it sounds: "Nothing with a face," as Hill says, Monday through Friday; on the weekend, feel free to add bacon to your French toast if that's your fancy.
If that sounds shocking, consider this: By forcing people to place a check mark next to "vegetarian" or "carnivore," we're missing the opportunity to encourage people to merely reduce their meat intake. That in and of itself is actually a lofty goal: The world has doubled its per capita meat consumption since 1961, and is expected to double it again by 2050.
All of this, of course, takes an enormous toll on the environment. Nearly one-fifth of global greenhouse gas emissions are attributed to the livestock industry. (That's more than cars, planes, and trains combined.) It takes 1,500 gallons of water to produce a single pound of beef. And manure seepage from factory farms has turned many of our once-thriving waterways into nitrogen-flooded dead zones.
More ominously, a new report by the National Academy of Sciences warns that livestock farming alone may push us to the brink of climate change and habitat destruction by the middle of this century. But the researchers suggest that cutting worldwide meat consumption by 19 to 42 percent could help us avert some of the most catastrophic consequences. A weekday vegetarian diet curtails meat consumption by 70 percent.
Reduce, but not eliminate, most of the meat from your diet, and you'll also reap some serious health benefits: A recent study found a Mediterranean diet slashed diabetes risk by 52 percent, compared with a regular low-fat diet. (Remember that a true Mediterranean diet is largely plant-based; real Italians do not frequent dining establishments that serve ziti bolognese in a Never Ending Pasta Bowl.)
So knowing all these things, wouldn't it just be more effective for all of us to become real vegetarians? Of course. But from a psychological standpoint, most people find smaller changes infinitely more doable. Take the runaway success of the Meatless Monday campaign, for instance, which encourages people to give up meat just one day a week; or Mark Bittman's New York Times bestseller Food Matters, which emphasizes a reduced-meat diet.
And let's not forget that making smaller changes can often lead to larger ones. I began Meatless Mondays over a year-and-a-half ago; a few months after that, I began buying meat in smaller portions; and shortly after that, I stopped eating meat at breakfast and lunch. I've now reduced my overall meat consumption by about 75 percent, all from committing to one change that I made week after week. Become a weekday vegetarian, and it's not that much of a stretch to becoming a full-time vegetarian.
For some, I suppose, being a weekday vegetarian could potentially backfire, as it often does for weekday dieters; the weekend could turn into a 48-hour burger binge. But unlike calorie-counting, a vegetarian diet doesn't have to be synonymous with starvation. (Pizza and donuts, after all, are meat-free. But don't eat those.)
What's more, many people who add more plant-based foods to their diet say they start to lose their taste for meat. But why not just give it a try and see? Saturday, after all, is right around the corner.
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For about the past 4 months I've been eating only organic and high fiber during the week, originally intending this to be a 24/7 diet change, but quickly finding out that on weekends it's almost impossible to follow given family functions, invites to dinner ect. so my commitment changed to Mon. - Fri. and its worked out really well. I only eat small amounts of fish or organic chicken during the week and all of my dairy products are organic as well as my grains, veggies and fruit. I eat no red meat at all during the week and only eat it roughly once a month and very rarely ever cook it myself.
I don't miss the red meat and surprisingly when I went to all organic dairy my cravings for it almost ceased! I'm not sure why ( I do have my theories tho) but I feel great and my blood pressure is much lower now.
I know plenty of non-vegans that aren't gracious guests.
If it has a face, it is meat. The color might be different than a steak, but it is still the flesh of another being. Those chickens you eat during the week have faces, feelings, bleed when cut, etc. and the same with the fish. That's not to say that I'm not glad that you have cut back, every little bit helps, but the animals (including the chickens and the fish) are looking forward to the day when you say enough, I'm done with killing things.
I haven't consumed meat in twenty years, I've never had a problem avoiding it and I've never felt deprived. It has been an easy, delicious, cheap, and healthy dietary choice that I never plan on giving up. Like you, I commend anyone willing to reduce their consumption of animal products with a goal toward eliminating them entirely. But I don't believe that doing so is a sacrifice or a hassle...in fact, people will likely be introducing greater variety and more deliciousness (a.k.a. ethinic foods from around the globe) into their diets by giving up meat.
Most people don't eat meat to anger "preachy" vegetarians, they eat meat because they view vegetarianism or veganism as an inconvenience or a sacrifice, when nothing could be further from the truth.
so in tribute to MeatlessMonday, looking forward to my steak this weekend.
I choose not to eat meat not because I believe animals shouldn't be raised for slaughter, but because I like the way I feel and it seems to be a healthier solution for me.
I only started eating this way because I had tried everything else I could think of to lose visceral fat. Which is the fat you get inside your gut. And I've have really good results. I've been a runner and bodybuilder most of my life and nothing (not even exercise) ever changed my body as quickly as changing my diet did.
So I know vegetarians don't like yogurt but I couldn't live without it....
Soy yogurt is available in many (maybe most) major supermarkets and, of course, in stores such as Whole Foods. It comes in many flavors and it is delicious - I love it. As part of my everyday breakfast, I eat soy yogurt.
2. A recent study found that dairy cows only emit half of the 'greenhouse' emissions previously attributed to them. (The previous emissions were based on guesses dating back to the 1930s.) It's safe to assume the same applies to other ruminents.
3. Livestock doesn't contribute to climate change because the number of ruminents have remained the same. Sure, 150 years ago most ruminents in North America (for example) were buffalo, elk, moose, antelope and deer instead of cattle, goats and sheep, but they all produce the same amount of feces and flatulence.
4. Rice paddies produce more 'greenhouse gases' than livestock.
5. Most of the fruits and vegetables consumed in North America are grown in Florida, California and now Mexico. Arizona produces 90 % of winter lettuce. These are all regions that have serious water issues. Do we really want to become more dependent on such regions for food? What about the cost of transporting these fruits and vegetables to Utah, North Dakota, Michigan or Vermont? Or the cost of transporting the number of bees needed to pollinate these crops?
I am a huge believer in the local foods movement... not just for environmental reasons, but for reasons of health (ie getting away from factory farming) and because when you eat local you end up supporting local people rather than huge mega corporations. I don't generally eat meat for ethical/religious reasons, but environmentally speaking, tofu made with GMO soybeans grown on land that was once Amazon rainforest is a much poorer choice than locally produced, organic, grass-fed beef! And don't even get me started on those individually wrapped, highly processed fake meat science experiments!
Unfortunately, I think what everybody wants is a simple answer... one that allows them not to have to think. But there are trade offs in all things, and there really is no way to have "no impact" (despite what Colin Beavan might think!)
http://news.ucdavis.edu/search/news_detail.lasso?id=7263
This is an article on the flaws in the UN report.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/climatechange/7509978/UN-admits-flaw-in-report-on-meat-and-climate-change.html
Here's an interesting article from Grist.
http://www.grist.org/article/2009-08-07-debunking-meat-climate-change-myth/
I really believe that we, as a society, could significantly reduce our meat consumption if we focused on adding in vegetarian foods rather than cutting out meat. Curried lentils are much less intimidating if you serve them up as one of many side dishes rather than telling your family "this is all you get!" Think of it like Thanksgiving. Sure, everybody will have a little bit of turkey, but with all of those wonderful (not to mention healthy and vegetarian) side dishes to pile on the plate, meat becomes just one part of the meal instead of the focus. If you play your cards right you can have your family eating much less meat in no time, and the reaction you get will be "Wow! This is a feast!" instead of "Hey! Where's my meat?"
In our society, the VAST majority of vegans and vegetarians were meat-eaters at some point, and I'm quite sure that those of us who did make the switch didn't do so because someone was trying to deprive of us of something, or was saying inflammatory things like "I can hear your lunch screaming". This fact should really help put a dent in the vegan self-righteousness factor, to which we seem to be so prone!
"Less meat" is a much more sellable message than "no meat". And I'd rather see a thousand people eat 20-30% less meat, than just two or three people become vegan.
The extreme vegan/AR activist image of people who eat meat as ravenous monsters stuffing huge slabs of animal flesh down their throats is as ridiculous and cartoonish as the kind of propaganda about "the enemy" that was published during WWII and WWI. But of course, for many vegans, eating meat or any other animal foods is "evil" and it doesn't matter whether you eat one spoonful or 10 lbs, so they feel no compunction whatsoever about being nasty and judgmental -- and many of them are. And then they wonder why people have such a negative reaction to them! Duh!
I had cyst because of the meat and had several painful removals. I would have break outs that look like a rash on my ass and all around.
I decided that I was highly allergic to meat and quit . How many of you are aware of the effects that meat have on you and Doctors will never figure it out.
I still eat fish and chicken one in a while but love eating what i call healthy and will go vegatation soon even if my wife goes NUTS.