There’s been a whole lot of jabber over the past few years about reducing meat consumption, and while it’s getting louder, it’s also getting more crowded, which tends to cause us to actually stop listening #amiright.
So we thought it was pretty good timing to put together a simple piece outlining why Meat-Free-Monday (I mean, any day of the week works, the alliteration just sounds good) might be something you want to consider.
SAVING THE PLANET (LITERALLY)
We all know there’s some messed up stuff going on for Earth right now, but as it turns out, the production of animals for consumption is ‘one of the top two or three most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems, at every scale.’
Why? A few reasons
- The amount of land required to raise animals en masse continues to increase – contributing to deforestation around the globe.
- A butt load of energy is required to raise animal proteins – 11 times more than to grow plant protein.
- Methane. Yup, cow farts. That stuff is madly increasing the volume of carbon dioxide in the air. Combine that with a reduction in oxygen from deforestation, and you can see how the affect is maximised.
YOUR HEALTH
We live in a time now where, apparently, every type of food can cause every type of cancer/disease/chronic health issue – which is a debate for another time. So let’s focus on the positive – when reducing your meat consumption just once or twice a week, you need to replace those calories right? This is an epic opportunity to load your body with even more vegetables and fruits, hyping up the amount of amazing micro-nutrients travelling around your insides.
THE PLANET AGAIN: ECOSYSTEMS
If we continue to wipe out/drastically change ecosystems across the globe, we will be staring down the barrel of mass extinction of species over the next hundred or so years. Deforestation, overfishing, and intense use of land for animal production will be the biggest contributors to this dramatic change in the world’s biodiversity. And here’s the thing guys – if we don’t have frogs, who will eat the mosquitos?
HERE’S THE LASH
We’re not saying ditch the meat all together (respect to the vego’s – you do you boo) – but if chowing down on an awesome plant based dish a couple of times a week is going to save the plant AND increase your health…why the hell not?
RESOURCES
https://www.meatfreemondays.com/
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/flexitarian-diet-guide
https://unfccc.int/news/new-methane-signs-underline-urgency-to-reverse-emissions