Why go vegetarian? Raising animals for food is “one of the top two or three most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems, at every scale from local to global. ... [I]t should be a major policy focus when dealing with problems of land degradation, climate change and air pollution, water shortage and water pollution and loss of biodiversity. Livestock’s contribution to environmental problems is on a massive scale ….”
Raising animals for consumption requires mass amounts of land and water. Nearly half the water and 80% of the agricultural land in the United States are used for farming animals. These animals create 130 times the waste as the entire human population of the USA. These farms don’t have a functioning sewer system for the waste, so it ends up concentrating and polluting our water, destroying topsoil, and contaminating the air. Every second meat eaters are responsible for 86,000 lbs of waste. By making the pledge to go vegetarian you could reduce this number drastically!
Good alternatives to meat -
• Tofu
• Tempeh
Vegetarian brands -
• Amy’s – A selection of vegetarian and vegan dishes sometimes using tofu. Makes a wide variety of frozen microwave dishes and vegetarian soups, including “No Chicken Noodle”. Dishes range from lasagna to stir fry to enchiladas.
• Quorn – Meat and soy free alternative. The main ingredient in a variety of mushrooms. They make fake chicken nuggets, patties, cutlets, meat grounds, and even turkey roasts.
• Boca – Soy alternatives that taste amazing! Comes in a wide variety of products, including burgers, chicken patties, sausages, grounds, and lasagna.
• Stonewall’s Jerquee – Soy jerkey, comes in a variety of flavors with up to 14 grams of protein per serving.
• Boca – Soy alternatives that taste amazing! Comes in a wide variety of products, including burgers, chicken patties, sausages, grounds, and lasagna.
• Stonewall’s Jerquee – Soy jerkey, comes in a variety of flavors with up to 14 grams of protein per serving.
Vegetarian Food Pyramid -
When going vegetarian, many people get worried about protein. However, by simply drinking more milk, eating more nuts, or subsituting your meat with a soy alternative, you have nothing to worry about! The average recommended intake of protein is 50g. An 8oz serving of milk has 8 of those grams, and 1oz of cheddar cheese has 7 grams. Getting your protein is easy as long as you're aware of where it can be found.
Links to Recipes -
Resources -
GoVeg.com
http://www.formerfatguy.com/articles/almonds.asp
H. Steinfeld, P. Gerber, T. Wassenaar, V. Castel, M. Rosales, and C. de Haan, “Livestock’s Long Shadow: Environmental Issues and Options,” Livestock, Environment and Development (2006) http://goveg.com/environment.asp.
http://www23.netrition.com/rdi_page.html
Images -
Cow - http://www.instablogsimages.com/images/2007/09/21/cows_69.jpg
Food Pyramid - http://www.vegsource.com/nutrition/pyramid.htm
1 comment:
Oh my gosh, I love the cow picture!
Juliet,
This was such a great idea. So many people think there is nothing to eat if we don't eat meat. These people forget that a good proportion of the world's population doesn't have access to meat at all, or very little.
You give great background info about why we should eat less meat and nice, simple suggestions for alternatives. I wonder if the food companies you promote would want to donate to WCS in exchange for advertising?
Bean
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