Although I originally meant to write about eating less beef, the more I researched this topic, the more it became apparent that meat, not just beef, is the issue.

As I was planning some dinner menus the other day it suddenly occurred to me: I plan all my dinners by starting with what kind of meat I have on hand.  Meat is the centerpiece around which everything else is arranged.  In an effort to cut down on our meat consumption I wondered if there was another approach I could take.  Want a different answer?  Ask a different question! 

Many cultures around the world rely on a staple, usually a grain, around which they plan the rest of the meal.  In China it is rice, in Africa it is millet, and in Central America and Mexico it is maize.  According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, out of over 50,000 edible plants in the world, only three, rice, maize and wheat provide 60 percent of the human population’s food energy.  Roots and tubers also are important staples for millions of people in developing countries. 

This got me to thinking.  What if I approached my menu planning with a grain as the main ingredient, or a hearty vegetable such as cauliflower or winter squash, or a legume such as lentils or beans?  This week I am experimenting with just that.  Last night it was potatoes.  You can do a lot with potatoes as a base for other vegetables, meat, or dairy products.  The advantage of this approach is that you can use a lot less meat or no meat at all. 

Why should we be concerned about eating meat?  After all the hamburger is the quintessential American food, along with barbequed ribs.  Well, there are several reasons to consider reducing our meat consumption.  One is our own health.  Eating red meat, especially, increases the amount of unhealthy fats in our diet.  Industrialized countries around the world suffer from an increase in cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, breast and colon cancer, thanks in part to a high meat diet.  According to a Natural Resources Council report the average Western diet is composed of 37% fat.  A long-term study of American nurses discovered that people who ate red meat daily were two and one half times as likely to develop colon cancer over those who ate little meat each day. 

Another reason to eat less meat is the impact it has on the food supply for poorer peoples.  Grain-fed beef, pork and poultry require utilizing the world’s grains, the staple food for many people around the world, to produce meat, rather than to feed people directly.  As more of the human population develops a taste for meat, more and more croplands are being devoted to animal feed, leaving less and less for human staples.  For example, in Mexico 30% of its grain production is fed to livestock, while 22% of the Mexican people are malnourished.  According to Worldwatch Institute 36% of the world’s grain supplies are fed to livestock.  If each of us were to reduce our meat consumption by one less dish per week, enough grain would be saved to feed 25 million people.  This is the number of people in the U.S. who are estimated to go hungry each day. 

A third concern about eating large quantities of meat is the impact of meat production on the physical environment.  Livestock production has outstripped world population increase since the 1950s.  Beef, which is grass fed for the first year, puts enormous strain on our rangelands and grasslands, and competes for food with other wildlife.  Enormous amounts of waste from meat and poultry production foul our waterways, produce toxic algae blooms and kill fish in our rivers.  According to, Worldwatch Institute, a 50,000 acre hog farm being built in Utah will produce more waste than Los Angeles.  The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that livestock production worldwide accounts for 25 percent of anthropogenic (deriving from human activity) methane emissions.  Methane is a known greenhouse gas, which is contributing to climate change.  Forestlands, such as those in the Amazon, are being destroyed to create pasturelands for raising cattle.   

Finally, there is factory farming, which began in the 1920s, when Vitamins A and D were added to the animals’ diet.  This meant exercise and sunlight were no longer needed for growth and animals could be crowded together in feedlots rather than roaming pastures.  Crowding leads to the possibility of more disease, so antibiotics were added to the feed as a counter measure.  It is also likely that factory farms utilize genetically modified grains as livestock feed.  This is what it takes to produce large-scale cheap meat for the market.  Given the recent scare in e-coli tainted beef, which accounted for a recall of 380,000 pounds of meat, factory farming may be efficient, but can also increase the likelihood of many of us getting sick.  Me, I’d rather eat less meat, but of higher quality that is locally and organically raised. 

Your turn:  What are your thoughts about eating less meat? 

Resources and inspirations:   

Diet for a Poisoned Planet:  How to Choose Safe Foods for You and Your Family, by David Steinman.

www.worldwatch.org 

www.ecomall.com

www.vegetariantimes.com/recipes 

www.splendidtable.publicradio.org 

Next week:  The not-so-big house.