Meatless Mondays

This morning on my drive to work, I heard an NPR story about Syd Lerner, the 79-year-old former ad exec behind the Meatless Mondays campaign. He says that his biggest challenge is “[turning] the mundane idea of ‘moderation’ into something irresistible.” But the idea is catching on. A quick Google search of “meatless Monday” returns ~60,900 hits, and almost all the links on the first page of results are dated 2010.

The website for the non-profit initiative Meatless Monday states, “Our goal is to help reduce meat consumption 15% in order to improve personal health and the health of our planet.” The website for their partner, the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, says that “[b]y adopting Meatless Monday, individuals can improve their health and potentially reduce demand for meat products, particularly industrially-produced meat, which use huge amounts of natural resources and pose significant public health and environmental risks.”

I should add here that there’s little to no chance of me ever becoming a vegetarian. I’m too big a fan of bacon, spaghetti with meatballs, and all forms of seafood to ever be able to completely give those up. But I can understand the arguments for reducing my weekly intake of animal protein.

Eating less meat can help …

• reduce risks for cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and obesity
• reduce my carbon footprint & (indirect) water consumption
• encourage me to eat more fruits, vegetables, legumes, & whole grains

Michael Pollan points out in Food Rules,

“While it’s true that vegetarians are generally healthier than carnivores, that doesn’t mean you need to eliminate meat from your diet if you like it. Meat, which humans have been eating and relishing for a very long time, is nourishing food, which is why I suggest ‘mostly’ plants, not ‘only.’ It turns out that near vegetarians, or ‘flexitarians’ – people who eat meat a couple of times a week – are just as healthy as vegetarians. But the average American eats meat as part of two or even three meals a day – more than half a pound per person per day – and there is evidence that the more meat there is in your diet – red meat in particular – the greater your risk of heart disease and cancer. Why? It could be its saturated fat, or its specific type of protein, or the simple fact that all that meat is pushing plants off the plate.” (Rule #23, pp.53-54)

So it’s no surprise that the idea of one day a week sans meat is gaining traction. San Francisco, New York, New Orleans, Australia, Great Britain – the movement has gone global. And the meat industry isn’t sitting idly by: they’re fighting back with a campaign of their own to make sure that the national dietary guidelines still include recommendations for two servings of meat per day.

But if you're ready to take the plunge and try being a "flexitarian," don't worry: there are plenty of delicious recipes out there that don't include tofu or seaweed. For ideas, check out Foodie Tots, Meatless Monday's recipe archive, and EatingWell.com. Since I've gotten in a breakfast rut - a small carton of OJ and a Kashi granola bar every weekday morning - I'm gonna try the Cheddar Egg White-wich (it's got avocado in it!).

If you're looking for a Meatless Monday restaurant option in Hampton Roads, check out Press 626. On Mondays, in addition to their happy hour and ladies' night specials, they also feature a vegetarian entree made with local produce.

If you know of other HR restaurants that participate in Meatless Monday, please leave a comment - I'd love to hear about it.