For World Vegetarian Week last May, I stopped eating meat. It was challenging, but I felt pretty good about myself afterwards and I wanted to keep it up somehow.
Knowing it would be extremely hard for me to follow a complete vegetarian diet, I decided to designate one day (Monday) as meat-free to ease myself into the lifestyle.
Meatless Mondays lasted about three weeks until I decided it was really oppressive of me to single out Monday. What if I get invited to dinner on Monday and a beautiful organic roast was cooked for me? Why not just once a week, no matter what the day? Of course, when I convinced myself that I could choose the day of the week, I got off track and forgot about my commitment.
Well, I’m ready to give it another go. Here’s why: Canadians eat more than twice as much meat than the global average. And eating meat – particularly beef – actually makes a sizable contribution to climate change. Cows produce enormous quantities of methane (a harmful greenhouse gas) and wonderful carbon-absorbing trees are cleared around the world for farmland to grow feed for the animals and/or to raise them.
Eating less meat is so simple and yet a revolutionary environmental act. Make it a Meatless Monday along with me.
photograph: michael reichmann
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