‘Greening’ our diet
Though negotiations continue, the Spouse and I were able to agree on some of the changes we want to make in the new year.
The easiest being a reduction in the amount of meat we consume. Raising animals for food on a large scale consumes huge amounts of natural resources—arable land and water—and yields disproportionately higher amounts of waste compared to plant-based agriculture. Approximately four pounds of grain must be consumed for every one pound of beef produced. Roughly 70 percent of the grain grown in the United States goes toward animal feed. Eating more vegetables and less meat is a healthier diet both for us and for the environment.
We usually eat several vegetarian meals a week, and while it would be best for the environment to eliminate it completely, we don’t feel able to do it yet.
However, I do think it will be pretty easy to eat at least three meatless dinners a week and that’s what our commitment is for 2010. Breakfast at our house is usually vegetarian anyway (sometimes containing eggs) and lunch is most often leftovers for myself and better half and a peanut butter sandwich for the Kiddo. So cutting out meat from dinner three times a week should effectively mean three meatless days.’
To track our progress, I plan to do some mini-posts each week logging our meat-free days and what we ate. It’s not perfect, but it’s a start.
If you are cutting back red meat for your health, fine. I don’t think we need it every day. But as for the amount of grain to produce the meat, that only applies to the mass produced beef. The whole issue only applies to people with enough money to have a choice. That said, I think it is very much healthier to get a farm-raised, pastured beef (whichever sex) and get it butchered, then freeze it. We got one from a farm in Winchester – actually 1/4 a beef. We got to choose the size of the steaks, etc, and best of all, no hormones, no antibiotics.
This is true about mass-produced beef. We have limited access to pasture-grazed beef that is within our budget. And, with other health concerns about red meat, it’s just not something we need to consume on a regular basis.
Note: Comment edited to correct my own correction about the statistic. It helps to remember which ones ended up in the final post versus the draft.