NUTRISPEAK by Vesanto Melina
Going vegetarian, at least one day each week, is becoming the “green” thing to do worldwide. In Israel, upscale restaurants promote “Vegetarian Mondays,” an initiative that encourages people to explore veggie options and contributes to the fight against global warming. Sir Paul McCartney has been promoting a similar program In Britain and Australia. In the US, the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore sponsors “Meatless Mondays” to help Americans eat healthier foods, which are also easier on animals and the environment.
Earlier this year, the federal environment agency in Germany asked people to return to pre-war norms of eating meat on special occasions only and to otherwise model their dietary habits on people in Mediterranean countries. The number of vegetarians in Germany increased from 0.4 percent in 1983 to approximately 10 percent a quarter century later.
In the Belgian city of Ghent, officials established Thursday as the day to go meatless (Veggiedag). In this city of a quarter-million people, the mayor asked fellow civil servants to abstain from meat every Thursday; restaurants extended their vegetarian menus and vegetarian meals will be served in city schools. This seems to be an appealing solution for those who wish to reduce their meat consumption for health or environmental reasons, but who don’t want to give up meat altogether. All the restaurants approached to participate in the Israeli campaign accepted enthusiastically and they’re coming up with creative, interesting vegetarian dishes.
This wave of enthusiasm was powered, in part, by environmental concerns and a love for our planet. A report by the World Resources Institute (www.wri.org) indicates how important it is that everyone reduces his/her meat consumption in order to help halt water pollution, climate change and other environmental problems.
This follows the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations’ (FAO) paper “Livestock’s Long Shadow,” which concluded that the meat industry is one of the most significant contributors to today’s most serious environmental problems and that urgent action is required to remedy the situation. Animal products and dietary choices prove to be bigger contributors to global warming and climate change than our choice of transportation.
In the Live Earth Global Warming Survival Handbook, author David de Rothschild cites the refusal to eat meat as the “single most effective thing you can do to reduce your carbon footprint.” It takes significantly less water, land, grain and other resources to produce a plant-based diet than a meat-based one.
A vegetarian diet has a lot going for it. According to the American Dietetic Association’s literature, “A vegetarian diet is associated with a lower risk of death from ischemic heart disease. When compared with non-vegetarians, vegetarians have lower low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels, lower blood pressure, lower rates of hypertension, less type 2 diabetes, lower overall cancer rates, and less obesity. Dietary features that may reduce risk of chronic disease include lower intakes of saturated fat and cholesterol and higher intakes of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, soyfoods, fibre and phytochemicals.”
If you’re inspired, pick one day a week not to eat meat. When you have comfortably made that transition, try it for two days a week. To explore your options in the Vancouver area, visit Earthsave’s website at www.earthsave.ca The organization has started the Vancouver Meatless Meetup group, which serves as an introduction to local potlucks, dine-outs, film showings and other events (see www.meetup.com/Vancouver-Meatless-Meetup).
For veg-friendly dining in BC, check out www.happycow.net and www.vegdining.com (if you know of more choices in the province than those listed, please contact these websites sites so they can update their information).
Vesanto Melina is a registered dietitian and author of a number of nutrition classics, including Becoming Vegetarian, Becoming Vegan, Raising Vegetarian Children and the Food Allergy Survival Guide. To book a personal consultation with Vesanto in Langley, call 604-882-6782.www.nutrispeak.com
To sign a relevant petition online, visit www.meatfreepetition.com
