Meat

Makes you want to read it or at least look for pictures, right?

Happy Earth Day, everyone!

I picked up this little "Delicious Living" magazine from a holder outside the local vitamin shop. This month was all about eco-living and eco-eating, so it was perfect for right now. Like Mark Bittman said in Food Matters, "Your personal food policy is more potent that anything else you can do in the realm of climate change, animal welfare, the environment in general, and certainly your own health." That being said, I thought I would share their eco-eating tips:

1. Eat less beef, more plant-based foods.
2. Eat whole foods; limit processed products.
3. Eat locally and seasonally; avoid air-freighted food.
4. For fish, go lower on the food chain (e.g.; mussels and scallops instead of tuna and bass).
5. Eat small-scale local organic.
6. Reduce waste (e.g., compost and buy only what you need).

Nothing we really didn't know, but I think it's a good reminder on this Earth Day. It's a lot like the Food Rules, which I've found helpful for guiding my eating. I don't need a ton of rules, but it helps to have clarity. I really recommend Food Rules for everyone.

Another great read that I'm just getting into is Food Matters: A Guide to Conscious Eating by Mark Bittman. He had me in the Preface with the quote above, and the first chapter has been great. His general premise has to do with lessening our meat consumption, given the environmental and health impacts of eating too much meat. Some interesting facts:

-Global meat consumption is expected to double within the next 40 years.

-The people in many developed countries, including the U.S., consume 1/2 pound of meat per day. (Ick.)

-We raise 60 billion animals per years for food - 10 animals per person.

-40 calories of fossil fuel are required to produce 1 calorie of beef protein.

For me, the signs are continuing to point towards vegetarianism. Beyond the obvious ethical issues I have with the way animals are raised and killed in this country, I just can't in good conscious contribute even more to the environmental damage that's happening every day in our world (she says with her SUV in the driveway. Ignore that hypocrisy, please!) Never mind the health problems that have come about because of massive meat consumption in this country. Frankly, meat hasn't been tasting that good lately whenever I've had it. I don't think it will be hard to give up. I just have to figure out a way to do that with Jeremy being the meat-lover he is.

I have Food, Inc. on my DVR and I'm planning to watch it this weekend. Be prepared for a rant to ensue!