Written by Sara Roderick for Your Daily Thread
Ladies and gents, the time has come once again to: clear your fridge of any leftover chicken; to freeze any unused ground turkey meat; and to cross Ribeye steak off your grocery list—Meatless in May has arrived!
If you took part in last year’s meat-free campaign, then we don’t need to remind you that “livestock uses 30% of the Earth’s arable land for pasture, an additional 33% of the land to grow and cultivate their feed and 5,000 gallons of water to produce a single pound of meat…” Livestock farming contributes to 18% of greenhouse gas emissions in comparison to the 13% of greenhouse gas emissions generated by all of the cars, trains, planes and boats around the world. We also don’t need to remind you that when you say “no” to meat (including chicken, cattle, turkey, pork, lamb and yes, even fish) individually, we can “keep up to 420 lbs of carbon emissions out of the air.”
Aside from the impact eating meat has on our environment, red meats such as beef can take a toll on your health. Not only is it very high in saturated fat and cholesterol, it has also been linked to heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and higher risks of breast, stomach and colorectal cancers. Even fish, like albacore tuna, swordfish, and shark are culprits to health problems including cardiovascular disease and can cause damage to developing brains in fetuses due to high levels of mercury.
Regardless if you’re a newbie looking to change your carnivorous ways, or you’re looking to give Meatless in May another go, over the next couple of weeks we will provide you with resources to making your meat-free life mighty simple. From vegetarian and vegan recipes to environmental stats and what’s currently in season at your farmers’ market, we’ll cover it all.
But wait, we want to hear from you too! Share your progress on our Facebook page. Ask us questions. Submit tips, inspiration, recipes – in fact, since beef is not what for dinner, what is? Each week we will be offering a giveaway as incentive for you to keep on with the meat-free grub!
So what are you waiting for? Pledge to go meat-free for the month of May!
