Meatless Mondays!

[SRiveroC]

One day a week cut out meat!

The goal is to help reduce meat consumption 15% in order to improve personal health health and the health of the planet. Meatless Monday is a non-profit initiative, in association with the John Hopkins' Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Health Benefits

• REDUCE RISK OF HEART DISEASE. Beans, peas, lentils, nuts and seeds contain little to no saturated fats. Reducing your intake of saturated fats can help keep your cholesterol low and reduce your risk of heart disease.

• MAINTAIN HEALTHY WEIGHT. A plant-based diet is a great source of fiber, which is absent in animal products. Foods rich in fiber make you feel full with fewer calories, resulting in lower calorie intake and less overeating. On average, Americans get less than half the recommended daily quantity of fiber.

• IMPROVE OVERALL QUALITY OF DIET. Consuming dry beans or peas results in higher intakes of fiber, protein, folate, zinc, iron and magnesium with lower intakes of saturated fat and total fat.

Environmental Benefits

• REDUCE YOUR CARBON FOOTPRINT. The United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization estimates the meat industry generates nearly one-fifth of the man-made greenhouse gas emissions that are accelerating climate change worldwide . . . far more than transportation.[3] And annual worldwide demand for meat continues to grow. Reining in meat consumption once a week can help slow this trend.

• MINIMIZE WATER USAGE. The water needs of livestock are tremendous, far above those of vegetables or grains. An estimated 1,800 to 2,500 gallons of water go into a single pound of beef. Soy tofu produced in California requires 220 gallons of water per pound.

• HELP REDUCE FOSSIL FUEL DEPENDENCE. On average, about 40 calories of fossil fuel energy go into every calorie of feed lot beef in the U.S. Compare this to the 2.2 calories of fossil fuel energy needed to produce one calorie of plant-based protein. Moderating meat consumption is a great way to cut fossil fuel demand.

PLEDGE to go meatless this Monday. Join the growing number of individuals, families and institutions pledging to improve their health and the health of our planet.

You don't have to become a vegetarian or a vegan everyday to help the planet!

Here are some meatless recipes ladies

For more information go to Meatless mondays.com

Tags: meatless, monday, planet, green, carbon footprint, water, vegetarian, vegan

Add A Comment

[Aasiyah]

Oct. 3, 2009 at 1:06 PM

Meatless??????????? what.. are you nuts.LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL.  hehehe.  girl  i'll have to really really think about this one really really hard.  my hubby is a veggie head. LOL.. he loves to eat non meat things .. so perhaps  it might not be so hard to  implement but boy i'm a meat lover.. maybe i can make fish on  mondays.. but i can't guarentee a committment. thanks foryour exciting post..  it made my blood rise. LOLOLLOLOLOL

[spababy120]

Oct. 3, 2009 at 4:14 PM

I am sorry but I love meat too much. I actually tried being vegetarian. I had such an awful emotional reaction to it, my family had an intervention with me and begged me to eat meat again! LOL  All joking aside, I actually have cut down red meat eating more turkey and chicken. Sometimes there are weeks where I don't eat meat but that's mstly in the summer. in the winter, I NEED my meat LOL

[katy_kay]

Oct. 3, 2009 at 5:44 PM

We already go meatless once a week, so this one is easy :)

[SRiveroC]

Oct. 3, 2009 at 6:34 PM

Remember Aasiyah and Spababy it's one day a week, and you can still eat fish :)

Cool Katy!

(Original Poster)

[tericared]

Oct. 3, 2009 at 7:57 PM

OK I was just talking to some one about giving up meat, we already dont do pork and eat a lot of fish and chicken......I think it is a good thing to do .....not only for the enviroment but for your body, going to check out the reciepes......Thanks for the info.....

[tericared]

Oct. 3, 2009 at 7:58 PM

reciepes link isnt working...going to other link...

[SRiveroC]

Oct. 4, 2009 at 12:06 AM

Sorry! The links are fixed now :)

(Original Poster)

[realPatientMama]

Oct. 5, 2009 at 12:38 PM

Great Post!  We eat fish 3 times a week...great brain food!  :-)

[tericared]

Oct. 9, 2009 at 10:53 PM

thanks for fixing the links

[awooding]

Oct. 14, 2009 at 11:56 AM

I may actually try this. My dad is a carnivore, so I may still have to cook it for him, but to save money I was thinking of cutting back on meat. All this would be an added bonus!