Meatless Mondays is now an international phenomena with significant potential to improve personal health as well as reduce the human impact on our global environment.  The benefits of going meatless just one day a week are substantial.

Health benefits

• Improved heart health
• Lower cancer risk
• Lower risk of Type 2 diabetes
• Facilitate weight loss and prevent obesity

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Environmental impact

The environmental impact of reducing meat consumption is significant in three key areas:

Carbon foot print

Amazingly, the meat industry far exceeds transportation as a generator of manmade greenhouse gasses, responsible for about 18% of global manmade greenhouse gas production.

Water consumption and pollution

Up to 2500 gallons of water is required to produce a single pound of beef.  The meat industry is responsible for 8% of global water usage.  Meat industry pesticides, antibiotics and animal waste pollute our waters and kill off our marine environment.

Reduce fossil fuel consumption

Beef production takes nearly 18X the amount of fossil fuel to produce 1 calorie of protein than plant proteins

Improve your health and make the world a better place

While I am not suggesting that we all eliminate meat from our diets, if we are more thoughtful about our meat consumption, increase our plant-based food consumption and take care not to waste meat, we can improve both our health and the health of our environment.

Great sources of plant-based protein include:

Lentils, quinoa, soybeans, beans, pumpkin seeds, peanuts, cashews, spinach, broccoli, cauliflower and asparagus.

Something New For Dinner suggested menus for Meatless Monday include:

• Fregola Sarda tabouleh
• Orzo salad with tomatoes, basil and feta
• Quinoa pilaf with asparagus, almonds and lemon
• Avocado massaged kale salade with oranges and toasted pumpkin seeds
• Puamana coconut rice
• Perfect sesame seed noodles
• Mushroom risotto
• Minted fruit salad