Meatless Monday: 20 Days of Sustainable Living Tips

20 Days of Sustainable Living Tips

This series is designed to showcase small, actionable steps that anyone can take in order to make your lifestyle more sustainable. It doesn’t matter what level of sustainable living you are already on. These tips are intended to help you more easily navigate this new “trend” of being kind to our earth. Let’s work hard to make it more than a trend. We can make it our lifestyle. Learn daily tips here and on Facebook every week day in February 2017 during a live chat about the Sustainable Living Tip of the day. Everything can be done in a sustainable way. Let’s tackle a new sustainable living issue today!

Quick Facts:

It takes approximately 1,850 gallons of water to produce ONE pound of meat, but only 39 gallons of water to produce one pound of vegetables. [1]
The production and transportation of meat create more bad greenhouse gasses and require more fuel/non-renewable energy dependency than that of vegetables. [1]
Eating less meat is actually healthy for many Americans, as we tend to eat a lot more meat than our diet requires. Reversing this extreme meat consumption can help reduce the possible “risk of chronic preventable conditions like cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and obesity.” [1]
The Meatless Monday website provides an in-depth look at the history and facts of meat and going without it for one day a week.

A Monday without meat isn’t so bad

I’m trying to take your delicious chicken and beef and turkey and ham away, huh? I must be crazy, right!? Well, y’all (yes, y’all), I’ll be the first to say that you can’t take my bacon away! But, I’m also a weird eater who doesn’t like to eat meat very early in the morning on some days. Sometimes a veggie wrap hits the spot because it is light and refreshing. Food without meat can be delicious, too! Even if every meal for an entire day is meatless.

Meatless Mondays were officially established in 2003, but the concept stems from meat and wheat conservation efforts that took place in America during World War II. [2] It has evolved from a survival tactic due to lack of food to a survival method because of overeating! That’s right – a lot of meat and an unbalanced diet can be linked to cancer, obesity, diabetes, and other illnesses. [1] Between high dosages of antibiotics, fresh water usage, and transportation, the pollution created by the high demand of the meat industry is alarming. [3] Taking one day out of your week to eat no meat is a small effort that can have lasting effects. Discovering yummy meatless recipes is just a great bonus!

My Meatless Monday menu:

Breakfast – avocado toast sprinkled with salt and pepper alongside a bowl of oatmeal. Make your oatmeal sweeter by topping it off with local, in-season fruit.
Lunch – a hearty serving of polenta with spiraled greens. It is both very filling and fresh!
Dinner – veggie stir fry like this sweet potato and collard green stir fry recipe.

Whether you just skip adding meat to one of your favorite recipes, or whether you try a meatless recipe that is new to you, Meatless Monday can be a truly delicious experience. My challenge to you this week is simple: Search the Meatless Monday recipe database and find a recipe for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Use this week to shop and prepare to cook those dishes. Next Monday, go meatless!

xoxo dolls & dudes,

Addie