Day 45 of 365 Days Of Low Carbon Living.
There are plenty of benefits from eating less meat (that is, a plant-based diet).
In fact, a plant-rich diet is one of the best everyday actions we can take as individuals to reduce damage to the climate.
Undertaking a time-limited challenge can be a great way of trying out new things or experimenting. That’s why I advocate carbon fasts for Lent or Ramadan (such as here, here, here, and here). It’s why I did the Climatarian Challenge. And it’s why I am doing the Drawdown EcoChallenge. (If you live in the ACT, join the Cool Canberra team in the EcoChallenge!)
Sometimes, a happy combination of circumstances brings these all together.
What I did
One of the challenges in the Drawdown EcoChallenge is to enjoy meatless or vegan meal(s) each day of the challenge.
I’m lucky that I made that change quite a while ago. (In fact, I have made it more than once – a health condition meant I had to eat a lot of meat for a while.)
Yet, I am taking the opportunity of the Drawdown EcoChallenge to try out more new dishes, both at home and when eating out.
At a recent family gathering interstate, I took the opportunity to try a vegan roast vegetable stack (see picture above).
It wasn’t quite what I was expecting (not that I am sure what I was expecting – but it was different to what arrived!), yet the dish was delicious.
The combination of vegetables wasn’t what I had come across before – yet it worked pretty well.
The quinoa base provided the protein – and tasted like a delicious risotto.
Then, of course, there’s the physical presentation: the high stack looks much more impressive and interesting than a plate full of vegetables.
More importantly, though, was the squiggle of barbecue sauce on top. I would never have thought of that! It seemed a little odd, yet it really made the dish.
The whole experience opened my mind up to new ways of presenting vegetables.
When I make a vegetable stack, I will simply do so with the vegetables I have on hand. I will let go of preconceived ideas of appropriate combinations. And I will ensure they are all equally well cooked. (The only complaint I had about the dish presented to me was that most of the vegetables did not appear to be roasted and they were not all cooked to the same degree.) I will probably microwave them, for speed and higher certainty of being cooked.
And, I may serve them with barbecue sauce – or something even more unusual for the combination.
Why eat plant-based meals
Our friends at Project Drawdown outline major benefits of shifting to a plant-rich diet:
Shifting to a diet rich in plants is a demand-side solution to global warming that runs counter to the meat-centric Western diet on the rise globally. That diet comes with a steep climate price tag: one-fifth of global emissions. If cattle were their own nation, they would be the world’s third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases.
Plant-rich diets reduce emissions and also tend to be healthier, leading to lower rates of chronic disease. According to a 2016 study, business-as-usual emissions could be reduced by as much as 70 percent through adopting a vegan diet and 63 percent for a vegetarian diet, which includes cheese, milk, and eggs. $1 trillion in annual health-care costs and lost productivity would be saved.
Bringing about dietary change is not simple because eating is profoundly personal and cultural, but promising strategies abound. Plant-based options must be available, visible, and enticing, including high-quality meat substitutes. Also critical: ending price-distorting government subsidies, such as those benefiting the U.S. livestock industry, so that the prices of animal protein more accurately reflect their true cost.
As Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh has said, making the transition to a plant-based diet may be the most effective way an individual can stop climate change.
Then, of course, there is the adventure of trying new taste sensations! If I hadn’t chosen a plant-based meal, I would have missed out on the experience.
Join me!
Any change or challenge is easier if you have company along the way.
So let’s embark on this journey together.
- Read my blog every day for ideas, thoughts and experiences for living a lower carbon lifestyle, more in harmony with nature – while also adapting to the consequences of our damaged climate.
- Subscribe to get posts direct to your inbox.
- Commit to taking action yourself.
- Add a comment to let me know you’re joining in the effort to turn around our world so it can remain liveable – and what your experiences are.
- Share with others my posts and what you’re doing – our efforts, progress, experiences and challenges – on Facebook, on Twitter, in conversations with friends, on talkback radio and in letters to the editor.
A problem shared is a problem halved. We’re all affected by the changes to our world so we need to be all in on the action!