Monday, September 10, 2007

burgers be gone!

lately there's been a rash of reports by animal rights groups that say eating meat is way worse for the environment than driving your gas guzzling car. well, i don't drive a car & feel pretty good about that, but i'm clearly not off the hook. i've been trying to give up meat for environmental reasons but every few weeks i fall off the wagon and get some salami or turkey.

after reading a post on grist however, i think i want to try again. plus the veggie bra (pictured above) is cool...

i found some helpful tips on going veggie from zenhabits.net:

Cut the fat. While meat provides a lot of protein, it also provides a ton of fat — especially saturated fat. Which means that by cutting out meat, you’ll be cutting out a lot of bad fat, and replacing it with things that are probably not only lower in fat, but that contain some good fats. This greatly reduces your risk of heart disease, and in fact numerous studies have shown that vegetarians tend to have a lower risk of heart disease, as well as hypertension, diabetes, cancer and other diseases. Read more here.


Less food poisoning. Food poisoning gets millions of people each year — and many of them from meat, which is a good breeding ground for harmful bacteria, especially if not stored, prepared or cooked exactly right. Cut out meat and you lower your risk of food poisoning (especially if you also cut out eggs and dairy, but that’s optional).


Reduce the suffering. You probably don’t want to hear about the horrific treatment of animals that are raised for food, even before they are slaughtered for our benefit. But suffice it to say, there are great amounts of suffering involved, and by cutting out meat, you are reducing your involvement in that. Read more here.


Help the environment. There are actually numerous ways that the meat industry harms the environment, from a waste of our resources (animals raised for food eat enough grain to feed the world), to a waste of fuel, to the pollution caused by their waste matter, and much more. Read more about that here.


Help your weight loss. It’s possible to be vegetarian and eat very unhealthy foods, including Coke and fries and fried stuff and pizza and chips. But it’s much more difficult. Studies repeatedly show that vegetarians are slimmer and are less likely to be obese than meat eaters. If you’re trying to lose weight, being a vegetarian can be a good part of your program.


Get more nutrition. In general (though not necessarily), vegetarians replace meat with more nutritious foods, such as fruits, vegetables, beans, whole grains, and so on. If you do that, you will be getting more of the nutrients your body needs, giving you better health, less illness, and more energy.

4 comments:

magda flores said...

Great post! I was vegetarian for several years and started eating meat again a while ago. I've been wanting to go back and this a good reminder as to why I should.

On a similar but different note. I am living proof that veggie food is not necessarily healthy. I lived on black bean tacos (heavy on the cheese), Tostino's pizza and Dr. Pepper in college. A word to the wise, definitely eat those veggies!

R. Monk said...

"Eating is a political act!" I love studying the overlapping issues of food, environmentalism, health and social justice. I wish you good luck and success as you endeavor to change society with your fork. My wife rolls her eyes at me when I start talking about related issues (vegetarianism, localvore-ism, permaculture, etc, etc.) Partly, she does this because in my mind there is no easy answer and the debate rages. There is a succint philosophy (our food choices affect the environment), but can the best approach to our health and the environment's health (entwined and inseparable certainly) be summed up so quickly? PETA and the Humane Society make it sound easy, but I doubt they completely identify with the sound bite slogan. Of course, the issue is a little more nuanced, and unfortunately, not as simple as just eating green. For example, did your veggies require petro-chemical fertilizers to grow? Where did the water come from? Or did the steak on your plate come from a wild animal which you hunted? Were your tomatoes harvested by people making a living wage? Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan and The Way We Eat by Peter Singer are thought provoking reads on this, touching on many salient issues to address as we make our food choices today. For a quick provocative read, try "The Oil We Eat" by Richard Manning http://www.eciad.ca/~elverumd/References/The%20Oil%20We%20Eat%20by%20Richard%20Manning.pdf
Good luck in your journey to eat a healthy (for you and the environment) diet. And I love Dr. Pepper and all its high fructose corn syrup!!!

Unknown said...

thanks r. thelonious for the food for thought. i read michael pollan's book a few months ago and felt overwhelmed by choices. sometimes i go to our local organic/health food market, look at products (ask some of those questions you posed), get annoyed at all the plastic wrapping, non-recyclable containers, etc. and then i buy an apple, that's it. or i go to the local farmer's market, buy stuff but wonder about pesticides. other times, i'm too exhausted to choose what to eat b/c of the conflicting underlying problems.

Anonymous said...

You guys are environmental crazies! Ok, just kidding. I agree with the points of the discussion and am conflicted as always with eating meat. I know I would miss it if I did not eat it.

But, the treatment of animals by the agribusiness industry in the states is appalling. And any investigation into this can force almost anyone from eating meat. As La Francaise noted the story on this American Life turned my stomach upside down to see what we are eating, in this case the pig is much more of a genetic mutation than an animal.

I also think it connects to the Michael Vick outrage. Though, the acts he was accused of are repugnant why are we not equally up in arms the way our everday livestock and chickens and pigs are treated on a daily basis. We close our eyes because it taste so good.