"A global shift towards a vegan diet is vital to save the world from hunger, fuel poverty and the worst impacts of climate change."
Yeah, I know - I am not beach babe in florida...
Today, you are stuck with soothsayer99 in Icepick, Minnesota.
But is still Monday.....And we are still going Meatless.
And if beach babe were here - as I hope she is next week -- she'd say this :
I was inspired to create this series by former Beatle and vegetarian advocate Paul McCartney(Macca) who partnered with the Meatless Monday campaign to promote less consumption of meat. We not only discuss the advantages of a less meat diet we also do some cooking, share recipes and listen to great Beatle/McCartney music!
In this weekly series we have been discussing the benefits of a vegetarian diet including: better health, animal rights, food safety, public health, frugal living, global food crisis and the immense contribution of meat/livestock production to climate change/resource depletion.
Macca's Meatless Monday/Meatless Advocates is a solution oriented activist group, with solutions for some of the most pressing issues of our time including: climate change, global food/water insecurity and public health. Here we don't just talk about the severity of the crisis. Armed with knowledge about how our actions can contribute we become part of the solution.
For three years now, beach babe has been bringing you this news and offering alternatives --- animal agriculture is one of the major contributors to environmental destruction, including climate change - a contributor that rivals energy use, transportation and population pressures.
The links between meat production/consumption, resource depletion and pollution are well-established. Our meat consumption is one of the greatest - yet least acknowledged - of all environmental threats. It consumes vast amounts of energy and fresh water -- accounts for 70% of global freshwater consumption, 38% of the total land use and 19% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions, uses 75% of all corn and soybeans as animal feed, but beyond that, the meat industry is the major US source of industrial pollution. Meat is an incredibly inefficient food source that consumes more energy and emits more greenhouse gases than all transportation combined. The energy costs to produce one pound of ground beef are roughly equivalent to one gallon of gasoline
As in all things excessive, the United States leads the way, and does so blindly driven by corporate greed and lack of consumer awareness/food options. We love our fast and "cheap" meat and consume about eight ounces a day, roughly twice the global average. And, although we represent only 5 percent of the world’s population, we slaughter more than 10 billion animals a year, more than 15 percent of the world’s total.
Americans are downing close to 200 pounds of meat, poultry and fish per capita per year (dairy and eggs are separate, and hardly insignificant), an increase of 50 pounds per person from 50 years ago. We each consume something like 110 grams of protein a day, about twice the federal government’s recommended allowance; of that, about 75 grams come from animal protein. (The recommended level is itself considered by many dietary experts to be higher than it needs to be.) It’s likely that most of us would do just fine on around 30 grams of protein a day, virtually all of it from plant sources.
We cannot, overnight, end our fossil fuel dependence, or instantly revise our infrastructure to support mass public transport and less reliance on cars.
But we can change what we eat. The biggest impact we can make for the environment is the very decision over which we have the most control. Our individual action could directly and immediately change the world.
If everyone went vegetarian just for one day, the U.S. would save:
• 100 billion gallons of water, enough to supply all the homes in New England for almost 4 months;
• 1.5 billion pounds of crops otherwise fed to livestock, enough to feed the state of New Mexico for more than a year;
• 70 million gallons of gas -- enough to fuel all the cars of Canada and Mexico combined with plenty to spare;
• 3 million acres of land, an area more than twice the size of Delaware;
• 33 tons of antibiotics.
If everyone went vegetarian just for one day, the U.S. would prevent:
• Greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to 1.2 million tons of CO2, as much as produced by all of France;
• 3 million tons of soil erosion and $70 million in resulting economic damages;
• 4.5 million tons of animal excrement;
• Almost 7 tons of ammonia emissions, a major air pollutant
Now this is usually the part of Meatless Mondays where beach babe offers up some delicious vegetarian options -- outstanding recipes with tantalizing pictures.
Well, yeah, like i said, you are stuck with me and since I am not cooking for anybody -- this is what we are having...
Strawberries
They are in season now so you can find them anywhere -- the real deal, small and sweet, not some over-sized monstrosity flown in from half -way around the world. Farmer's markets, coops,
Community Sponsored Agriculture farms, your garden.. Best of all if you can pick them yourself.
A totally stellar source of anti-oxidants. Make some shortcake if you want to, but these berries are perfect straight up.
Hemp Bread
I prefer the
French Meadow brand -- made locally in Minneapolis. Toast it or not. Make a sandwich - any nut butter, portabello, tomato, avocado, anything but meat people. Hemp bread has all of the essential amino acids; it is high in protein, fiber and omega-3 essential fatty acids.
The bread has 8 grams of protein per slice, 6 grams of fiber, it's sprouted and it's high in vitamin B6. Hemp is grown without pesticides, and has no yeast, no sweetener. It's a Superfood. One meal in a slice of bread.
Apples
Take your pick of so many varieties. My personal fave is the mighty
Honey Crisp - a Minnesota hybrid. Bite em, peel em slice em - whatever you want. That old adage is true - - the
Power of the Pectin.
Now I apologize if this seems a bit spartan -- and I suppose in some ways it is. Truth be told, in terms of both nutritional value and costs, my menu certainly beats Kentucky Fried.
Again I hope ( I am sure you do too!) that beach babe returns next week. I would like to take this opportunity to thank her for her tireless efforts here on this crucial issue. Her well-informed, passionate yet gentle approach, her commitment to action and alternatives has positively impacted so many people - so Much Gratitude and Admiration for her.
As this invaluable series has made plain, there are so many reasons to go vegetarian, vegan, or even just reduce our meat consumption --the animals, the environment, our health. And even though there are a multitude of issues where we feel as if our actions cannot make an immediate difference -- not here!
Yes, i will say it again, our everyday choices can change the world.
And finally, you will be pleased to know, I am sure, that I fare much better with the featured Beatles songs than with the recipes..
This one is for beach babe.
As this diary surely illustrates -- "You Don't Know What You Got Until Lose It."
Please Come Back.
Our Meatless Mondays are Nothing Without You.