Choose to have one meat-free day a week in your home
If you’re not a vegetarian, rather than default to eating meat every day, plan so that at least one day a week you avoid eating it altogether. If enough people did this (and gradually reduced their meat consumption more) the environmental impact would be huge.
Our diets have a bearing on the sustainability of our planet. It’s been calculated that the length of time the world’s petroleum reserves would last (with current technologies) if all human beings ate a meat-centered diet would be just 13 years. They would last 260 years if all human beings ate a vegetarian diet. Maybe we can make a generous step in that direction.
The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation has estimated that meat production accounts for nearly a fifth of global greenhouse gas emissions. These are generated during the production of animal feeds, for example, while ruminants, particularly cows, emit methane, which is 23 times more effective as a global warming agent than carbon dioxide. The agency has also warned that meat consumption is set to double by the middle of the century.
Campaigners have also pointed out the health benefits of eating less meat. The average person in the UK eats 50g of protein from meat a day, equivalent to a chicken breast and a lamb chop – a relatively low level for rich nations but 25-50 per cent more than World Heath Organisation guidelines.
Related links
Read more about why this is the case and why the UN are recommending that we cut down on meat consumption here
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GB , 03 Mar 2009
If becoming a vegetarian is a step too far, why not build on this by eating less meat and only buying it when ethically and locally sourced.
GB , 10 Mar 2009
Try this delicious recipe … butternut squash risotto (serves 4).
Fry 1 onion in 3 tbsp olive oil for 2 mins, add 1tsp ground cumin and 1tsp ground coriander. Add 300g risotto rice and stir round. Add 1 litre veg stock one ladle at a time – stir continuously. Add 350g butternut squash – peeled and cubed (option – steam lightly first, helps with cooking)and 1 medium courgette – diced – cook for 5 mins. Then add 125g frozen peas. Stir and continue cooking for 5 mins until all liquid has been absorbed.
Season to taste. Option – serve with some grated paremsan on top.
Liphook, GB , 10 Mar 2009
We are all on a journey. Go Veg4Lent as a first step towards reducing meat in your diet.
Go to www.christianvegetarian.co.uk for more information.
Godshill, GB , 13 Mar 2009
Choose rather only to have meat-free days, and start adding a few dairy-free as well. It is the best thing you can do to reduce your carbon footprint