Meet Meatless Monday

Has that long holiday weekend of grillin' and chillin' left you in a carnivorous coma? Feeling kinda sluggish after piling your plate sky high with the obligatory 4th of July burgers, hotdogs, potatoes, and pie?

The fastest way to shrink that post-barbecue belly this Monday is to let your body lighten up: step away from the saturated fats in meat and get your week off to a heart-healthy start with fruits, veggies, grains and legumes. And because livestock production creates more greenhouse gases than transportation, choosing beans or beets over meat one day a week helps to lighten your carbon footprint, too.

You'll be in good company with millions of other folks who've joined the Meatless Monday movement and its British cousin, which share two simple goals: healthier people and a healthier planet. This not your father's--or your grandfather's--Meatless Monday campaigns, which flourished during World Wars I and II.

Back then, it was all about scarcity. Things like fuel, meat, sugar, milk, and cheese were in short supply and Americans were called on to sacrifice for the sake of the war effort. Now, we're going meatless on Mondays for our own sake. Decades of cheap gas and bargain beef have created a surplus of ill health and greenhouse gas emissions, two things we really can't afford.

Today's Meatless Monday--a non-profit initiative run in collaboration with the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future at the Bloomberg School of Public Health--is not about rationing. It's about living rationally; i.e., eating more healthfully. Skipping meat even just once a week can help you avoid a wide range of illnesses, including cancer, heart disease, and diabetes.

Not sure where to begin? You'll find all kinds of tantalizing recipes on the Meatless Monday website, and, starting this Monday, Huffington Post will be featuring recipes from Ellen Kanner,
aka the Edgy Veggie. You'll find plenty of pro-produce posts on the Green page from other bloggers as well (myself included).

Some of us are vegetarians or vegans, but others, like me, eat the occasional grass-fed burger or pasture-raised pork. We encourage meat-free meals because it's not only healthy and humane, but because getting your calories from plant-based foods grown by the sun is such an easy way to support renewable energy. Calories, after all, are just another form of fuel.

So get your week off to a sunny start and make Monday your day to lighten up. After that, who knows? You might find meat-free eating so life-affirming that you'll find yourself worshipping seitan on Sunday. I'm thinking about launching Tatsoi Tuesday, myself.

Read Ellen Kanner's column with a recipe for Tunisian Roasted Vegetables

Follow Kerry Trueman on Twitter: www.twitter.com/kerrytrueman

Comments

[StopGlobalWarmingBeVegan]

Meat-less week will be next. :) We should have a raw vegan day.

[mioffe]

"And because livestock production creates more greenhouse gases than transportation, choosing beans or beets over meat one day a week helps to lighten your carbon footprint, too."

IT IS VERY SUSPICION WHEN DIET IS MIXED WITH GLOBAL WARMING.
IN MY OPINION IN THIS CASE PERSON DO NOT KNOW AS SCIENCE OF DIET, AS SCIENCE OF GLOBAL WARMING.

WE MUST EAT WHAT IS HEALTHY FOR US, NOT FOR EARTH.

IN GLOBAL WARMING PROPERTIES OF WATER ARE MORE IMPORTANT, THAN PROPERTIES OF GHG.

[barriosbabe]

Meat and dairy from the right sources are very heart healthy - go read Sally Fallon - and stop pushing the low fat myth. Yes, veggies are great too, I start my morning with heaps of raw bok choy. Read up on the Eskimos and other indigenous people that had zero heart disease on protein and fat.

[Goliadkin]

And now the awful truth--no one knows the answer.

[BlueZoo]

I didn't have meat today because the last rack of ribs was eaten by my partner; however, the potato salad and banana pudding were excellent! This is all such tripe! We often have salads or meatless quiche or pasta dishes and we do it "just because." I went through years of meatless Fridays until the Vatican changed the church mandate and I don't intend to go through "meatless Mondays" because of some sort of group with an agenda. How about asking that people do something positive rather than a negative fast? Like eat healthily?

[barriosbabe]

The one big food thing Americans need to do is stop consuming processed food.

[DruggyBear]

oh please, we are the top of the food chain, no reason to feel guilt about eating meat. you vegetarians need to get over it!

[alieninvader]

Really, now? Careful of that tiger behind you.

[Clairvaux]

Yes, tigers should not feel guilty about eating carnivorous humans ...

[DruggyBear]

think that tiger would feel any guilt? nope, neither do I

[Thabit]

Animals create Carbon dioxide and plants create pure oxygen from Carbon dioxide so if you are eating only plants you are eating our solution while i , by eating animals am eating the problem

[jozzie]

Meatless Monday through Friday.

[local21]

burp---just finished off leftover ham off the bone from Sundays meal

My meatless day is Friday.

[Weirdwriter]

We should all learn how to prepare a variety of good meals with fresh, locally produced ingredients that are as wholesome as we can find, grow and afford.

Which is why as a confirmed omnivore I don't have a problem with encouraging people to abstain from processed meats and cook a good vegetarian meal at least once a week.

But I hope this isn't used as yet another forum for the zealot vegetarians to tell us, yet again, how eating meat -- no matter how it's raised and butchered -- is immoral, anti-eco and bound to make us die hideous deaths.

[Clairvaux]

Cutting back on meat is a great start, and some of my best friends are occasionally carnivorous.

Vegetarians, however, SHOULD be zealous. In addition to the ethical considerations, increased vegetarian diets would help solve a multitude of problems now facing our little planet.

[Weirdwriter]

If that is what you believe, more power to you. Zealotry when pursued to the point it resorts to insulting the intelligence, morality and general character of those who disagree, is no friend to anyone.

[alieninvader]

I have encountered many many more zealous omnivores than vegetarians. It could be that zealous people are just zealous people and there happen to be many more omnivores than vegetarians.

Regardless, omnivores love to try to tell me my diet must be deficient in something and that humans were meant to eat meat, etc... The truth is, I feel great about my diet. I'm healthy (ask my Doctors and see my irrefutable stats). I wasn't healthy when I ate meat. I have a cleaner conscience than when I ate meat. Those are the only arguments I need. I believe more in the lead by example philosophy.

[jsgaetano]

That's fine- more meat for me.

[fcsakes]

Do you kill it yourself?

[jsgaetano]

No, I do it by proxy.

[Goliadkin]

New research from Rhode Island Hospital suggest that nitrates in our food, water, and environment may be an important cause of Alzheimer's Disease. Our food is a good place to start working on this, because processed meats and meats cooked at too high temps are high in the disease causing compounds.

http://www.facebook.com/ext/share.php?sid=116770602287&h=GOuyO&u=ow4hS&ref=mf

[RMankovitz]

I am a great supporter of those who shun the eating of grain-fed caged animal foods, and those who wish to experiment with vegan and vegetarian diets. However, as a research scientist, I do wish to comment on unsupported statements demonizing animal foods evolved by nature - from grass and grub-fed free range animals.

Here is what my research shows: I know of no studies showing grass fed meats are damaging to one's health - they are all based on grain fed meat. The nutritional and lipid profiles of grass vs grain fed meat are radically different. The large methane burps from cattle are based on grain feeding. New studies (published on HuffPo) show when you switch them to grass, burping is markedly reduced. As it now stands, worldwide, termites arguably produce more grams of methane than livestock. Per pound of protein, grass-fed buffalo appears to use less environmental resources than annual unsustainable monocrops such as grains or beans.

Because I care about the environment, I do not eat any food containing more than one ingredient, or that requires a plow to produce it, or which cannot be digested without prior human processing.

For background, consult the hundreds of references in "The Vegetarian Myth" by Lierre Keith, "Against the Grain" by Richard Manning, "The Whole Soy Story" by Kaayla Daniel, "Plows, Plagues and Petroleum" by William Ruddiman, and "the Original Diet - The Omnivore's Solution", by me. Ask your librarian for copies.

Roy Mankovitz, Director
http://www.MontecitoWellness.com

[alieninvader]

While I appreciate that you are a NASA engineer, I will take my nutritional advice from someone a little more advanced that "certified nutritionist".

[RMankovitz]

I encourage you to do so, and wish you the best of health.

[way2muchsense]

Because I live in a tree, I do not eat any food containing more than one ingredient, or that requires a plow to produce it, or which cannot be digested without prior human processing.

FIFY.

Incidentally, the "prior human processing" you speak of was invented thousands of years before recorded history. There are many ways of accomplishing this without degradation of the environment.

[RMankovitz]

I can remember when, many years ago when I was a software engineer like you, I thought I knew everything about everything. Like you, I would diss new ideas without having even read, much less researched them. Over time, nature has taught me to substitute humility for arrogance.

Regarding your comment on our evolutionary history, "thousands of years before recorded history" is essentially one minute ago on the hominid timeline. The impact of food processing I am referring to has nothing to do with the environment. It has to do with the health of those eating these foods.

All of this and more can be found in the cited references.

[naschkatze]

This is an excellent idea. We go veggie several times a week, vegan once in a while.

[kentay305]

i gave it a try last monday and the penne dish was EXCELLENT...im going to try another one tonight... its a definite change of pace considering how much meat is consumed... join in the more the merrier

[Clairvaux]

Terrific post, Ms. Trueman!

Not eating meat one day a week is a great way to start. People should make an effort to eat REALLY GOOD vegetarian meals on Mondays, otherwise they will feel deprived.

Vegetarian diets are delicious! There will be no sacrifice involved!

[naschkatze]

My favorite vegetarian cookbooks are by Anna Thomas, and they are being reprinted. Not fast, but my idea of REALLY GOOD food.

[princessk]

I'm making "Savory Cheese and Onion Pie" tonight! It's one of my favorite quiche recipes.

[Clairvaux]

You know the veggie eating people at this site should start sharing recipes. Maybe there should be a permanent thread just for that purpose.

It would be useful for us and hopefully inspiring for the carnivores.

[DavidMG]

Anyone interested in easy, reliable, time and taste tested, nutritionist approved (and developed), 1300 vegetarian recipes should take a look at “American Wholefoods Cuisine.” In print for more than thirty years it is considered the “vegetarian Joy of Cooking” by both gourmet and health writers. For more info go to HealthyHighways.com