I am all for giving up meat and the positive environmental effects it provides, but I have food allergies relating to grains and have problems with soy. I also feel that my brain needs a certain amount of amino acids that I can only get efficiently from meat. I believe that I am genetically designed to eat meat, certain vegetables and fruits and have resorted to a paleo diet. See books on paleo diet written by Cordain for more info...

Menawhile, I have given up eating beef and will try to afford organic free range poultry.

Any advice on sustainable eating for kids?

Our whole family is vegan because that's the best diet for the environment. It's also healthful, and of course way better for the animals. If you are vegetarian, you are still supporting meat-eating because dairy cows give birth 1/2 the time to males who are slaughtered for their meat, and the dairy cows are eventually slaughtered for meat as well. Egg-laying chickens are eventually slaughtered for meat.

Raising animals for food is incredibly wasteful, and not only adds more greenhouse gases than all transportation combined, but uses more water than humans do, and causes massive water pollution, land degradation and deforestation. Concerned about rainforests disappearing? They're being cut down for grazing cattle! On and on it goes.

Giving up eating animal products is a small sacrifice. We must do what we can to save the planet for future generations. It's the only moral choice at this time in history.

Pets can be vegan too - our 2 cats have been eating Vegecat and Evolution all their lives. Vegan eating is the way to go! Vegetables, fruit, nuts, grains, legumes. Do the right thing, there's no excuse.

In truth, we weren't meant to be veggie only creatures, we must consume some form of meat to get the correct amount of proteins that grains just can't give us to sustain life. I completely understand where all of you are coming from, but your putting your bone health at risk by not feeding what your body craves is silly. Everything in moderation is okay. If I don't have meat in my house, its because its cost too much to buy. yeah, I buy my fruits and veggies closer to home. If the gas prices keep going the way they are, there will be less shopping from the next town (fancy health food stores) and going without just to make it through the month.

Let you kids eat homemade hamburger and chicken bites. They need the right proteins to grow healthy strong bones. Forcing your diet on them is only hindering them. Can't stand the smell of cooked meat, get over it, its for your kids. My parents where true hippies in the 70's and changed their diet but didn't change ours and our bone structure is stronger now then our parents, because we got the right kinds of proteins and where they deprived themselves of the need for meat. But, your going to do what you want to do. Keep the sugar out of the house, but not the meat.

If anyone really wants to help the planet, stop buying wooded land and burning down the trees to build an overside house. There are plenty of GREAT homes waiting to be sold and have great possibilities in remodels. Create and enforce new laws where, anyone who buys large amounts of land and plans to clear it all, all of 1 acre must be a working farm to produce food. Stop buying more stuff, I mean really, how much stuff do any of us really need to stay warm, fed and clothed.

Everyone have a GREAT week

I'm Vegetarian...and I feel so better than before...I love Animals and I love nature...a kiss from Rome

My impression based on what I've read is that beef is the worst of the lot, environmentally speaking, and chicken is probably the most environmentally-friendly. Turkey and pork are probably somewhere in the middle. I'm curious what the environmental impact is of eating certain types of game or unusual meat such as ostrich, bison, venison, and rabbit. I haven't seen much written about that.

We still love our steaks and carne asada, but we're starting to treat beef dishes as special occasion treats. We're also exploring some great tofu recipes--this is one of our favorites:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/238093

We also like Morningstar Farms sausage links and have come to prefer them to either real sausage or bacon:

http://www.seeveggiesdifferently.com/

According to a University of California study, it takes 5,214 gallons of water to produce 1 pound of beef. That’s more than a year of daily showers in exchange for 4 hamburgers.
One of the most effective way that you, as an individual, can do your part to reduce global warming is to reduce your consumption of animal products.
Amazing, isn't it?.....what makes us healthier...makes the world healthier!

PS:
We should also get into the habit of blessing the food we eat, the animal that is presently sustaining us and thanking the creator for our nourishment.
One of the problems that we, the white race have for the most part, is we just take and take and take to feed our own desires, creating immense suffering for ourselves and animals around us that we choose to glutton from.

what I'm grappling with is the amount of meat let's say a body builder or a wrestler, or sports person needs to build up their physique. And for what? So how many animals perish, because we need to watch boxing matches or whatever it is that we think we need to be occupying our time with.

We have so many difficult questions before us, i.e., whether or not we humans exterminate our race from this planet, that there are no easy answers right now, just hard questions.
Sorry again for being long winded.

When I was working typing transcripts for businesses one company in Virginia was in the business of buying land for the purpose of digging huge vats for the disposal of pig poop. Believe it or not, pig farms apparently have to dig huge vats for the stuff.
My friend on friend who is an American Indian Medicine Man told me that buffalo and deer are the best meats and that humans can get very sick if we don't eat it.
There have been vegetarian communities where the children have not grown to the proper height, indicating a need for some B-12 which is mostly found in meat products.
Beef is apparently the primary cause of colon cancer, that with refined flour should be avoided.
Rudolph Steiner, I read, advocated milk products. Also some Indian religions eat mostly milk and lentils for their protein and seem to do quite well. Many of them own grocery stores in my neighborhood, so I asked them.
I think the key here, is one needs to eat meat, to do so moderately, if possible.
We human beings are not as evolved as we like to think or imagine.
Best regards, sorry for being so long winded.

I think that a peace of meat or a Leaf of lettuce in your food, is the result of the same environmental problem. Because, the cattle and the farm are the principals factors of deforastation. Those economies kill endangers species of animals and plants and probably species not discovered yet. The fishes is already polluted with our synthetics seas.

Solutions?

The education, ..the education for childrens. Most of us are indifferents about this problem. they can be save the world, finding the right way to make the economy more sustainable.

Ive been a vegetarian for fifteen years, and I think this article is ridiculous. Sure, I'm an advocate for healthy eating and encourage other people to do the same. To imply that 'green people' have to be vegetarian or vegan is a little much. Every bit helps, but setting the bar to unrealistic standards turns the green movement into a cultish phenomeon. Let it go.

Well,about the subject I think that the beef is necessary for the habitual life..
but maybe we can do something to
down the level of the kill of some animals, we can probe something else like soya´s meet

The evidence is overwhelming that consumption of animal products has a massive impact on the environment, particularly on global warming.

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization report, 'Livestock's Long Shadow' concludes that global animal agriculture contributes more greenhouse gas emissions (in CO2 equivalents) - an astonishing 18% of the total - than all forms of transportation (13.5%).

Another study from the University of Chicago found that the average American diet requires the production of an extra ton and a half of carbon dioxide-equivalent - in the form of both carbon dioxide, methane and other greenhouse gases - compared to a strictly vegetarian diet.

Most recently a study by the National Institute of Livestock and Grassland Science in Japan found that a kilogram of beef is responsible for more greenhouse gas emissions and other pollution than driving for 3 hours while leaving all the lights on back home.

Reducing your meat intake is one of the most effective personal strategies for slowing global warming. Food for thought!

For lots more information, see http://www.ivu.org/members/globalwarming.html

Many choose to eat less meat for reasons related to their personal health, but my decision to discontinue eating any and all meat was based solely on ethical considerations. While growing evidence shows that meat in our diet may pose serious health concerns ranging from E. coli and "Mad Cow" to high blood pressure and obesity, my decision to stop eating meat had little to do with my own health. Rather, my lifelong love of animals dictated that I could no longer eat them. Simply, put, I think animals offer to humans things of much greater value when they are alive than when they are dead. Also, it seems clear to me that meat is an unnecessary part of a healthy human diet, as evidenced by the thousands of millions of Hindus and Buddhists around the world, and others, who live free of meat products.

Recent investigations reveal that many livestock animals not only live in cruel and brutal conditions throughout their lives, but more and more slaughterhouses fail to practice "humane" methods of killing animals. I was horrified when I read these first-hand accounts of meat industry employees. It's hard to face such facts, but it is worse to ignore them.

I understand that many human groups on this planet, such as the Inuit, for example, live in conditions that require meat eating to survive. I have no problem with this, especially because these peoples "harvest" animals that have lived healthy and robust lives. Also, these peoples tend to revere the animals they eat, they take only what is absolutely necessary, and they use every part of the animal they take. My objection in our culture is how our animals are treated and killed, especially in light of all of the healthy dietary alternatives available to us that render this brutality completely unnecessary. To a doctor trying to convince me that if I were to not resume eating meat, I would die, I would have to say, "It's been nice knowing you." Outside of some unimaginably desperate situation, I will never again eat an animal.

My personal guideline is, "I'll eat nothing with eyes, except potatoes." I figure if an animal can "see" the world around it, it's too much like myself to be food. I'd far rather look into the eyes of an animal than see parts of it on my plate. I have enjoyed excellent health during this time, and a rich vegetarian diet has left me not wanting meat at all.

Fortunately, there are more and more products available at the grocery store to enhance a fully non-meat diet. The wide range of "meatless burgers," bacon, hot dogs, sausage and "chicken" nuggets and patties enable me and others to enjoy full and varied meal options that promote personal health, as well as the health of countless animals whose lives are spared by such culinary choices. As the demand grows for non-meat foods, even restaurants and fast food establishments increasingly offer "veggie burgers" and "vegetarian" menu items. It is becoming easier to maintain delicious, healthy and ethical consumption. Indeed, the increasing quality and variety of these food options leaves me wondering why anyone considering a vegetarian diet would not simply replace their meat choices with these healthy alternatives.

But even for those who do not wish to completely eliminate meat from their diets, simply choosing "veggie" alternatives from time to time can make a big difference, both for the animals, and in terms of the choices that food producers will continue to develop and offer at the marketplace.

Throughout my life, I have endeavored to improve my own understanding of my responsibility to both domestic and wild animals. My mother continues to take in injured wild birds and other animals and help them to recover. It has been inspiring to me to watch formerly sick birds fly back to their families with renewed health gifted by my mother's ceaseless determination, skilled efforts, and love. After her wonderful example, I continue to try to have greater empathy with all animals and to assist them to the best of my ability.

If you love animals, consider replacing meat with some of the many alternatives that are becoming widely available. Your body may thank you, and so will our animal friends!

I have been vegan for almost a year now and what lead me to this decision was a purely logical deduction. It makes more sense for the well-being of:animals, "my" overall health and the environment.

It's good for everyone, from any angle you look at it.

My only suggestion is not trying to force it on anyone as it has to be a personal decision. Veganism requires you to be passionate about it, otherwise the actions are empty and usually not permanent.

<3

I think the key to shifting your diet is finding recipes you really like. I started a recipe project last month with some Earth-conscious friends who are willing to explore vegan cooking. We email recipes to each other, some original, some taken from cookbooks, all dishes we have tested and liked. There are 16 of us now so we are getting a good supply of recipes and also picking up enthusiasm from each other. We are starting to think about having a potluck. Going vegan no longer feels like a duty---it's fun!

Being vegan is so satisfying. There is such a variety! This is my 27th year as a vegan and I still love it.
Here's a recipe that's very simple to make and delicious. Just mix the ingredients, put in an oiled pan and bake. 1 1/2 lbs tofu, mashed, 1/3 cup ketchup, 1/3 cup soy sauce, 2 Tbsp dijon mustard, 1/2 cup parsley, chopped, 1/4 tsp black pepper, 1 medium onion, chopped fine, 1/4 tsp garlic powder, 1 cup rolled oats, bread crumbs or corn flakes, crushed.
Put 1/4 c oil in loaf pan; press the mixture into the pan. Bake until edges are golden brown, about 50 minutes at 350 degrees. Let cool 10-15 minutes before trying to remove from pan. Also good sliced and fried for sandwiches the next day.

I have no doubt that vegan is more eco-friendly, but I just can't bring myself to subject our growing 3-year-old to a vegan diet. She actually doesn't like meat all that much, and her pediatrician isn't concerned about her protein intake...as long as she drinks lots and lots of milk. We buy her only organic milk, which, I would mention, tastes considerably better and stays fresh longer than conventional milk.

If you read that entire UN report, you'll see that chickens are worth raising because they eat a lot of the pests and insects that would otherwise have to be controlled with pesticides. It states that livestock are an important food source in developing countries that are subject to occasional crop failures. It notes that goats graze on areas where we can't grow food anyway, and on vegetation that we can't digest. It also states that milk and eggs are an important source of protein for kids in developing countries who are otherwise living off of a vegetarian diet.

So, while you'll not get any argument from me that those of us in the developed world should be eating less beef and more veggies, I don't think veganism is the type of "global solution" that some vegans are making it out to be.

I’m curious what the environmental impact is of eating certain types of game or unusual meat such as ostrich, bison, venison, and rabbit. I haven’t seen much written about that.

i am a hunter myself. i do sometimes eat beef, but usually i eat a lot of deer steak. how is it enviromentally bad to kill a deer and eat it? i do know cows in general produce green house gases... but deer have been around for a minute, they aren't a "man made" animal.

if you do happen to get a hold of some deer steak i suggest you soak it in some milk (takes the gaminess out of it) and fry it up like you would a beef steak. toss some onions and such in there with it. however, this jumps off track.

i eat beef maybe one a month myself. i hunt deer with my bow. i take down 2-3 deer a year and it leaves me with enough meat to last me the whole year till next hunting season. humans are meant to be meat eaters, its a fact of life. however we do have choices when it comes to what type of meat we do eat.

A balance of healthful food is essential: absolute whole grains, lots of fresh, organic veggies and fruits, berries, nuts and seeds, raw-milk cheeses, and protein products like tofu. Beef, chicken and all other meats are important (if you choose to eat them), but my recommendation is all-natural (organic) and grass-fed/free roaming. Grain-fed meat is not good for several reasons, which can be read anywhere. Seafood is essential, as well. It's all about a balance of the proper foods, inclusion of raw foods with most meals, and less consumption of processed and pre-prepared foods.

I have been a total vegetarian for over 15 years now. I have felt far more energetic since I stopped eating meat.

Meanwhile, I actually wonder how one can still eat meat! - because it means killing others to do so. Living in Western Europe or the US, I feel that we have such a wide choice of alternative foods that there can be no legitimacy in killing animals. Each of us who has a pet knows how they have well-defined personalities. How can one split up feeling and not be able to reflect on cows, bulls, pigs, etc. having at least as much consciousness as a cat or a dog?

I really think that human beings have to raise their awareness to respect all forms of life and take in the broader picture of the inter-relatedness of all life. Killing an animal means destroying a far more evolved form of life than eating greens and grains!!

yeah. turkeys and broiler chickens, i've read, are among the more environmentally friendly fleshes. lamb and beef, awfully inefficient.

but veganism gets my vote (my brain's, and my mouth's) not really for environmental reasons, but as an attempt to boycott animal cruelty (did you guys hear about this? http://video.hsus.org/?fr_story=b2dfefe0f02221333c5fb942f4879218cf9448e6...). hopefully i'm helping the environment, though, even if unintentionally...

anyway, glad to hear about your preference of the faux sausage links--i used to fancy those too, back when my diet wasn't limited to a college cafeteria.

There are lots of ways to look at this issue. I personally believe however that this is best resolved, and understood, if you regard food (sustenance necessary for life) as simply another resource, comparable to the others on our planet that we are 'consuming' at a terrifying rate. So - without wanting to be too 'sciency'.... the 'energy' we need to consume through our food is 'fixed' at what are called 'lower trophic levels': ie. lower life forms that photosynthesize, ie: plants. This is the conversion of the suns energy into matter (basically). Each trophic stage up from that (ie: the bird eating the plant, the fox eating the bird etc) the energy efficiency transfer (it sounds complicated but it really isn't) is reduced. The fox 'absorbs' the birds energy, but expends a load of energy catching and consuming the bird. An example from our dependable human food species? Well, it takes ten kilo's of grain to be eaten by a cow to produce one kilo of beef. The maths says it all. Ultimately, because of the lack of efficiency in the transfer of energy between plants being consumed by animals (and then us eating the animals) the higher trophic level the species that you eat (ie: mammals such as beef) the more overall 'energy' you are consuming from this planet. One study done in the early nineties suggested (terrifyingly) that of all the suns energy hitting the planet, humans were 'ultimately consuming' nearly 49% of it (eech!! - that doesn't leave alot for everything else!!) Ofcourse - with all the pesticides, fertilizers, GM crops and general messing about with the system that we are doing in order to sustain the productivity of even the first trophic level of foods, well... it all gets a tad depressing if you're trying to be true green. (I would love someone from one of the campaign groups to add their fourpenneth on how truly green is soya these days?? How about tofu and the like??) Anyway - to avoid the whole gritty mess of it all I would recommend people stick to organic, locally grown, vegetarian products if you wanna be 'true green'. And ofcourse growing your own is even better ! Vegan is ofcourse another step up on the true green stakes in some ways (once more because the transfer of energy from source plant products to higher level products produced such as eggs etc is inefficient), and ofcourse if you bring animal welfare into the whole equation, well.. it all gets really rather messy then (!) Saying all of that - I'm not vegan; I'm not even 100% vegetarian as I happily catch and consume fish and lower level trophic marine species (such as invertebrates like shrimp etc). But I do believe in sourcing my own food wherever possible and I am fortunate enough with my work to live in random places in the world that allow me to do that. The overall message ?? - grow your own, catch your own and keep to the lower tropic levels. And ofcourse ... Enjoy !!

My parents, who lived till 86 and 90 and were slim and healthy, told me that in their youth they used to eat meat maybe two times a week. It was not usual to eat it every day.
They had more soups, rice, vegetables, pies, potato dishes (like gnocchi),and genuine bread.

Well, I am studying nutrition, and thanks to what I have researched, the consumption of meat is one of the best ways to fill the requirement of essential amino acids. Of course, we must choose the best meat, for example, the beef have one of the worst types of fat, so the order of choose is, from best to worst: fish, chicken, pork and beef ; regarding seefood, is important to know that shrimp and lobster are high in cholesterol, so its consumption should be moderate.
Other ways to fill the needs of essential amino acids, if not want to consume meat, is through milk and eggs (Because their protein quality is very high). This because, It is not proved that only through Vegetables you can fill the needs of essential amino acids or iron, even doing correctly mixtures of different products, such as a cereal with a legume, that because it is always going to deficient in the amino acid lysine, which Decreases the absorption of the rest of the amino acids.
Therefore a good recommendation for people who decided become vegetarian or go, is going to a nutritionist or dietitian to inform them of how best to combine food and promote the diet. Also can seek what are the requirements of All the necessary nutrients, Especially essential amino acid and iron (which is of very poor quality in vegetables) and then compare your diet with these requirements, this can be done with the food composition table of united states that is on the next page: nal.usda.gov / fnic / foodcomp.

Vegan is the best by far! But for those less extreme (like myself) - vegetarian is good. The dairy in the US is more or less poison with all the hormones and pesticides they put in.

If you haven't seen the movie Earthlings...check it out:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1282796533661048967

As for substitutes...

http://www.vegparadise.com/protein.html

There are tons of facts about the health, environmental, and social impacts of eating meat vs. vegetarian as well...even insurance companies in some states offer lower rates to vegetarians and lord knows they know the facts...

http://www.foodrevolution.org/index.htm

Best Regards,
Brian

Hi All,

Just wanted to let you know that my book giving step-by-step instructions on how to get all 45 nutrients, eating fewer animal products and loads of antioxidant rich plant foods has just been released! The Super Antioxidant Diet and Nutrition Guide can be purchased at any major book store or on Amazon. There is an Amazon link on my website www.vibrantcuisine.com

Robin Jeep

Just to add a little humor, my aunt is 70's and lives on beer (I'm serious) she starts the beer after her morning coffee. She lives in a hot climate and so I guess it just evaporates out of her blood system. She just turned 71 and going on 50, beautiful, vivacious.
Well beer has silica in it, needed for teeth hair and bones, from hops.
Maybe that's the trick.
She had a double mastectomy 30 years ago and the day after the surgery the doctor asked her husband how she was. Her husband replied, I don't know. What do you mean, you don't know. "I haven't seen her, she's out playing tennis" said her husband. (all is true!)

But macrobiotic diet is very beautiful. it takes a lot of food preparation though. and the eating for your blood type is very good also. I've seen friends dramatically improve their health.

And i for one, love cows and can't imagine life without them, so we should have a few. But the buffalo was given to us by the creator for our sustenance.

Thanks for the discussion.

At the moment I am feeding three meat eaters, two vegetarians, and two vegans. It is challenging but helping us all to think about the effects of our food choices. When I can I buy local eggs (the weasel ate our chickens too many times). I use deer given by friends and buy buffalo and kindly raised chicken in small amounts (it really costs!) In the summer I am able to get cheese from PA carried by a local farm stand. BUT I have not been pleased by the fact that Morningstar uses GMO's. This may be one of the biggest threats to seed survival that the planet has ever known. Also helps to keep poor farmers poorer. We do grow a lot of our own vegetables in our rather short growing season, but do like the Gardenburger or Amy's "soymeat." Even the meat eaters don't know the difference when I add it to spaghetti sauce and serve it with pasta!

After being vegetarian for nearly thirty years I recently discovered that being vegan was not only "greener" but much healthier more humane, and surprisingly easy to do. If you don't believe me, and why should you, go to vegan.com and read the free pdf book "Vegan, the new ethics of eating" then spend $35 on Amazon to purchase and read "The China Study" a very powerful scientific study looking at diet and various disease processes.
If these two publications don't change your dietary view you are either already vegan or a you are sadly captive to dietary tradition and the influential powers of the meat/dairy/poultry industries.
If you have greater trust in a more mainstream established authority than those referenced above, visit PCRM, Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. I believe you will find their message both powerful and convincing. The current problems we collectively face is the amazing influential political and advertising power of the meat/dairy/poultry industries which is currently exacerbated by the fact that our nobel prize winning spokesperson likes to gnaw on rare T-bones from Brazil fired up in his backyard barbecue. After you read the afore mentioned books, kindly forward them and/or your findings on to Mr Gore who in my opinion is a tremendous force for positive change. If he were to go vegan his carbon footprint would be reduced by half no matter what he drives or where he lives.
If you want a vegan cook book check out "Vegan With a Vengeance" and "Veganomicon". Both have great tasting recipes that are easy to prepare.

It takes 10 pounds of feed to make a pound of beef, but only 2 pounds for a pound of chicken, or 3 for a pound of pork.

Add to that the INCREDIBLE water-usage of a cow herd, the methane they belch and fart out (methane is a serious greenhouse gas) and beef is the worst of the lot, by a long shot.

That said, I think the vegetarians are right - I just can't DO it. Same with the nudists.

My understanding is that eating locally as possible, and having a plant-based diet is best. Eating lower on the food chain requires less land and energy to feed one person.

Vegan seems like the least energy intensive, followed by vegetarian. Of the meats, it seems chicken is the least energy intensive followed by turkey, pork and then beef. Beef and coal have a lot in common of being the big global warmers. Beef production requires lots of land to produce the food for the cattle, which sometimes entails cutting down forests and sometimes tropical rain forests.

I am getting involved in community gardens to grow locally produced foods. My diet consists mostly of grains (bread, cereal, pasta, etc), fruits, vegetables, legumes (lentils, beans, etc.) and nuts. I have cheese, milk, and some meat, but because of higher land, energy and water costs of these foods, plus the cholesterol, I keep my focus on the plant-based foods.

Go vegan at once! There is not much time left!

As far as global warming is concerned I would venture to say that beef is the worst, with the methane gas and all the Co2 produced by the processing plants. But I'm really not sure. What really concerns me is the prevalence of factory farms.

In factory farms the animals are barely able to move and are injected with many antibiotics and antivirals to keep them alive until slaughter. The problem is that the longer the medicine is in the animal there is a greater chance for a virus or bacteria to mutate and become resistant to the medicine.

Then, in the case of pigs which are susceptible to both the strains of flu which infect humans and birds separately, a version of avian influenza could become resistant and then make the crossover in the pig to infecting humans. This would be a very hard to treat epidemic.

So while not eating certain types of meat to help fight global warming is a noble goal, I believe the real issue lies with the vectors for disease transmission found in factory farms.

To find out more just google "factory farms", and to help reverse this buy meat from family farms and demand that the government enforce a much stricter health code on factory farms.

Thanks!
-Bill

Well live stock are leaving a rather large footprint on the earth. According to a study run by the United Nations livestock currently occupy 30% of the earth's entire land surface. That means less forests.

There is also suggestion that the cow's belches are emitting green house gases into the enviroment.

I'm a vegetarian... partly for environmental reasons and partly for animal cruelty reasons. At first it was hard to find things to eat but I've found that there are a lot of good pastas. Spaghetti noodles with butter and Parmesan cheese is great. I had a great eggplant steak last night which consisted of eggplant with cheeses and a really great tomato sauce with seasonings. If you look up recipes and be creative you might just discover you're eating better food than you were before and I discovered that I felt so much better!

Since pigs, basically, eat leftover food, I suspect they fall higher on the green list than chickens.

For great vegan recipes, I like the book Veganomigon by Isa Moskowitz and Terry Romero. I love their cashew-tofu "ricotta"! A great alternative in lasagna!

I'm vegetarian. I started that when I left home (17 then 40 now.) My reasons were strictly based on my love of all things living, but I see how much damage the beef, pork and chicken industry does to the environment and that keeps me dedicated. The amount of water used for the livestock is shocking. Then add to it the recent news about abuse of the animals and I'm feeling pretty good about being a vegetarian. I love morning star products and try to buy as much organic as I can to support the industry. My husband eats all meat but has cut back drastically on the beef since we have been dating. I'll get him to cut back on it all in time:-)

I would love to see companies like Morning Star and Boca Foods advertising to the masses more. Their products lend themselves to such creative and honest campaigns that would really hit home with most Americans if the facts were laid out before them. I recently made the decision to give up eating meat and have been able to use substitutions like the Boca Meatless Ground Burger in any dish that previously called for ground hamburger. These products are healthier for our planet, for ourselves and for our wallets. It's a win-win for everybody, especially the cows.

If you are looking for good recipes check out the cookbook published by "The Grit" restaurant in Athens, GA. You can get it online, just google it.

Chicken is actually not that great when compared to beef. Chicken farms are responsible for more problems in rivers and lakes in terms of raw sewage than beef will ever be. Pork and pig farms are worse than chicken. They make a mess of everything, the land they are on is pretty much a sewage dump and the watersheds they are in always become polluted. Cows are bad because they use lots of space, however they are not near as bad in terms of polluting the landscape. I look at this issue in terms of water, since in the end that is going to be the most limiting factor as something like 3% of the earth's water is fresh and we have access to like 1% of that 3%.

I have basically replaced Chicken with tofu. Still love my beef though.

Want to reduce methane gas? Reduce your waste. More methane is relesed from landfills than from animal waste.

My wife and I are vegan, and have been for almost 15 years, and were both ovo-lacto for several years before we met. I don't always bring up the subject, because I don't want anyone thinking I'm trying to convert them, or say I'm better than them, somehow. But we made this choice for ethical, environmental, and health reasons. The main thing, I think, is to eat lower on the food chain and to eat locally produced and organic foods when possible. Just cutting down on red meat makes a huge impact.

Reading The Omnivore's Dilemma and that has me definitely tipping away from any beef that is not grass fed.

It is very interesting to learn about the US Gov's stamp of approval on things organic, where to most it might not be considered that organic as food can still be adulterated.

I highly recommend reading this NY Times bestseller!

I guess the question before us is..Do we really want to have a live earth? Eating meat and animal products (milk, eggs, cheese) contributes to world hunger, poor human health, environmental destruction and hell on earth for animals.
Did you know?
Health
· The average meat-eating man in he U.S. has a 50% chance of having a heart attack. A vegan man’s chance is 4%.
· A meat-eating woman is 5 times more likely to develop breast cancer than a vegan woman.
· Colon cancer is 10 times higher in men and women who eat meat and dairy products than among vegans.
· The leading cause of food-borne disease in the U.S. is Campylobacter bacteria. 70% of American chicken and 90% of turkeys are contaminated with Campylobacter bacteria.
People often say..Well that won’t happen to me, or you have to die of something. I am here to tell you the patients I see just don’t die, they linger on and on with painful and debilitating disease (cancer, hearth disease, diabetes, strokes) from eating a primarily meat and dairy based diet.

World Hunger
· It requires about 10 lbs of grain to produce one lb of beef
· 70% if U.S. grain is consumed by livestock
· 80% of the U.S. corn is consumed by livestock
· 100,000,000 people could be fed using the land, water and energy that would be freed up from growing livestock feed if Americans reduced their intake of meat by only 10%

Environment
· It takes from 2500-5000 gallons of water to produce 1 lb of beef
· It takes about 30 gallons of water to produce 1 pound of vegetables
· 35 lbs of topsoil are lost in the production of 1 lb of beef
· It requires the equivalent of 1 gallon of gasoline to produce 1 lb of feedlot beef

Compassion for Animals
· Animals raised for food are now raised on factory farms with no concern for their basic instincts or comfort
· The reason for the high incidence of disease in the animals is serious overcrowding and filthy conditions
· 99% of U.S. eggs and poultry come from birds that are so crowded that they cannot lift a single wing.
· Around 5% of cows are conscious when they are dismembered. The number is even higher for chickens.
· Approximately 10 BILLION land animals are slaughtered each year in the U.S. alone for meat consumption.

So do you really want to be earth friendly! Eat a plant based diet predominately of fruit, vegetables, grain and legumes! If you want a long, enjoyable active life! Eat a plant based diet predominately of fruit, vegetables, grain and legumes! If you want to help others have enough to eat! Eat a plant based diet predominately of fruit, vegetables, grain and legumes! If you want to show compassion to all living beings! Eat a plant based diet predominately of fruit, vegetables, grain and legumes!

Please don’t take my word for it, verify the facts for yourself.
Read:
Food Revolution by John Robbins
Eat Right, Live Longer by Neal Barnard M.D.
Animal Liberation by Paul Singer
Last hours of Ancient Sunlight by Thom Hartmann
Kinship with all Life by J. Allen Boone

www.drfurhman.com
www.foodrevolution.com
www.drmcdougall.com
www.vegsource.com

Check out the Peta website, http://www.peta.org/

If you are going to eat meat that comes from factory farms, which is pretty much everything that is not labeled organic and even some that is labeled as organic. I've heard to stay away from Horizon Milk.

Woody Harellson has a great movie called "Go Futhur" that is about having a healthy body and Earth. And he is promoting the ultimate diet of mainly raw foods here:
http://www.rawfor30days.com/Site/Woody_Harrelson_Interview.html

I have been a vegetarian for about 12 years, and it has been progressing and growing the whole time. I eat almost 100% organic food, it's a top priority in my life, I think because of my daughter. I am 28 yrs old and she is 8 yrs old.
I think the most important thing is to be happy and Don't Panic, Just Keep it ORGANIC!
And yes, organic is expensive, so how does a single mom do it?
Search out the co-ops and buying clubs in your area, or form one if there isn't one already! That way you can form community and get organic produce much fresher than you can in the store, and as cheap or cheaper than most stuff in regular grocery stores thats not organic!

The amount of beef Americans are eating is very harmful to the environment in this country.
But it's not just harmful to the environment, as we are just starting to see in the mass media from recalled meat, (the largest recall ever!)MEAT FROM SICK COWS IS BAD FOR YOU and our children.

Buying organic is the way to go, whether you eat meat or not. Organically raised cows don't get pumped full of chemicals and treated the way factory farmed cows do. A factory farmed cow consumes so many hundreds of gallons of oil in its life, just from the pesticides on the food it eats. It doesn't graze in a grassy field, it's crammed in lots of hundreds or thousands of other cows. I've seen it in person, it's really gross!

If you are going to eat meat, you need to know what you are putting into your body. You are what you eat! Watch the whole movie on Peta's website.

Here is a great site to check out too: http://www.goveg.com/environment-wycd-footprint.asp

Letting Love Flow
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Personally I'm a vegan, but my understanding is that there's no "right" diet for every region - there are many parts of the world where eating a ruminant (like cows) has a lighter footprint than intensive farming that some fragile soils can't support. That being said, the U.S. by and large does not require ruminants to live off unfarmable land, and a lot of U.S. livestock, instead of eating inedible grasses, are fattened off of wheat, corn, and other foods that could better feed people. I'll look forward to seeing what the responses from the team are!

i am lakto-vegetarian, vegan might be better, further than the aspect of methanol, the cruelty amongst humans is based on the bloodshed for food, as tolstoi already said, "as long as there are slaughterhouses, there is war", a sandwich with tofu soaked in soy sauce and grilled does it for me, in vienna there are a couple of asian restaurants where you get everything meaty in fake from soy though it has lots of estrogen

There is no contest that vegan is the way to go, if you truly wish to help the planet. It takes 16 lbs. of grain to produce 1 LB of meat. The recent EU Report stated that factory farming is responsible for more global warming than all of the worlds' transportation combined. Dairy production is, of course, part of factory farming.
Once you learn the facts you cannot, in good conscience continue to fund an earth killing, cruel meat eating diet. There is also no such thing as humane or enviro friendly flesh eating.
Go Green---Go Veg.

I used to be part of the problem. At I young age, I was trained to make meat a part of my daily regiment and without conscious thought, insured that meat in some form made up at least two of my meals every day. Who hasn't been told at some point that 2-3 servings of meat a day is part of a healthy diet...

Unfortunately, to achieve this kind of a regiment, fast food had to play a signficant part in my diet. I'm sure this holds true for many people.

It's been 3 years now since I met my wife who is a practicing vegetarian and with her help, I've learned what proteins lie in the rich variety of beans, lentils and other vegetables that grow in the ground. I've learned to appreciate the value of properly prepared tofu. Finally, I learned that there are far more vegetables out there than just potato and carrot.

What I must share with all of you is this; I lost a significant amount of weight, blood pressure is perfect and no problems with cholesterol and I just turned 44. On top of this, I have twice the energy I used to. The only downside to a vegetarian diet is when I give in to a meat craving - it takes my body a few days to process it and drags my energy levels way down.

Do we need meat? Apparently not. And definitely not in the quantity most Americans currently consume. It's not only destroying our environment - it's having a devastating impact on the health of millions and we haven't even seen the worst of it yet.