Meatless Mondays

I haven't quite managed one fully. 

My favorite food growing up was chicken, preferably on a bone. 

I was a little carnivore. I'm not that bad anymore. I enjoy a wide range of vegetables and other food these days. While with my diet being dairy free we use a lot of vegan products, there are no chances of our household going vegan any time soon. However, we have woken up to the harmful effects of the meat industry on our environment and we are trying to make better choices about which meats we buy and eat. The real costs of meat production are in the side effects, the billions of tons of water used. The tons of methane gas released into the air. The tons of carbon dioxide released from transportation and production. The chemicals and land used and the overall treatment of animals which happens along the way. Not to mention the tons of styrafoam used as grocery store trays and single use plastic for wrapping raw meat. The real costs of eating meat is not reflected in the monetary price at the cash register. 

If you are like us and aren't quite ready to go vegetarian or vegan, but you want to do something, cutting back on how much meat, and specific types can make a difference. For those of you who meal plan and want to cut back on your meat consumption, introducing Meatless Mondays as a theme day can be a good way to start that process. Beef production is the single largest consumer of water and polluter of air in the meat industry. Jimmy and I have almost completely cut out buying beef. Poultry, such as chicken and turkey is more likely to be available locally and uses a quarter of the amount of water and land as beef. If you live near a large enough body of water, fish is a great source of protein and can be sustainably caught. Of course, if you live in-land, fish also has a travel cost associated with it. 

After transportation and indoor environment, food production is the third largest area humans can make changes in to impact climate change for the better. Most of us have choices about which foods we buy and eat. When we think about the environment as we grocery shop, we are more likely to make a good impact for the future.