Advantages of A Meatless Day

1. Many studies have concluded that a diet high in red meats, and processed meats, increases the risk of various cancers when compared against more vegetable and fruit based diets. So there are health benefits to you for having less meat overall in your diet.

2. It gives you a chance to explore some new variety and options in your diet.

3. Cleansing your system. Meat is harder to digest than most other foods, giving your body one day without it helps your inner organs to cleanse themselves by reducing the work load on them.

4. On the whole meat is a very ineffective way of being fed, although it provides us with protein, we have to grow food for the animals which we then eat, as such space is consumed not only for the housing of the animals, but also space is needed to grow crops to feed the animals, the exception being hunted game, which makes up only a small portion of most diets in the developed world.

5. Read more in Activism

   « Killing our Planet

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   Most people consume more meat than is recommended under the dietary guidelines. We must remember that many people live in areas of the world where neither meat, nor tofu, are easily available on a daily basis.

6. The risk of disease from eating meat is reduced. Most diseases, including parasites, are due to undercooked meat, but not always.

7. By having one day without meat we make it easier for those who are not ready to become a full vegetarian to reduce their impact for whatever reason they chose. I personally know I am not ready for the jump myself, so to expect it of others would be wrong.

8. With the exception of organic and hunted game, most meats have chemicals and dyes added, in addition to growth hormones given to the animals earlier. All these raise questions to how much is considered safe for us to consume. Could obesity in humans be linked to growth hormones fed to livestock?

9. Skipping meat from your diet one day a week, also saves you money.

10. To reduce cruelty and suffering of those animals which become our meals.

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Specifics of Species

1. Cattle have been linked to being a major contributor to global warming, mostly through their flatulence. Additionally, huge amounts of land are cleared to raise feed for the cattle. If we all reduced our beef intake by 1/7, then theoretically we could reduce the number of cattle in feed lots by 1/7, and the amount of land used to grow crops for them by an equal amount.

2. Fish is meat too, and many fish stocks are in decline, reducing the opportunities to eat fish, means more fish in the ocean. Some religions teach that fish is not meat, allowing people to eat fish on days when meat is forbidden, but meat is anything that comes from the flesh of a living creature.

3. Chickens live in horrible conditions prior to being served up as food. In most large chicken raising operations the males are killed at the age of one day. By reducing the amount of chicken we eat, we reduce a huge amount of suffering in the animal kingdom.

4. Some people do not eat pork because of religious reasons, they consider pigs to be “unclean”, others do not eat pork because a pig is said to be as intelligent as a dog.

5. What about eggs? Battery hens in constant laying production have terrible lives, if you decide to eat eggs on your meatless Monday, try to select true free range eggs. In my case I have my own hens for egg production, so I feel no guilt in eating eggs. Additionally there have been health advantages shown between fresh free range eggs and eggs from battery hens.

6. Other sources of meat include horses, goats, sheep, rabbits, insects, even cats and dogs. No animal wants to be our meal. Our nature is towards being omnivores, but if we can reduce our meat consumption, even slightly, we can reduce a tremendous about of suffering of other species.

What to Eat?

Breakfast – Instead of bacon and eggs, a person could have waffles, cereal (you can still have milk), or my personal favorite, hot porridge.

Lunch – You can have a salad, tomato soup, any variety of meatless sandwich, or even bean burritos.

Dinner – There are lots of meatless suppers a person can have, and using tofu is not even a requirement. Try spaghetti with mushrooms and zucchini chopped up and added to the sauce rather than meat. Make a stir fry of vegetables and mango and serve over noodles or rice. Cheese Quesadillas or Nachos with cheese, tomatoes, olives, and green peppers. Of course if you want to try tofu, there are many varieties from those that look and taste like meat, to those that can simply be chopped up and used in place of chicken in a stir fry.

Dessert – It is a natural that you do not want meat in your dessert, right?

Photo source Wikimedia Commons Amakuchi_Mattya_Ogura

http://www.socyberty.com/Issues/Is-Hunting-Cruel.361665