What is Meatless Monday about?
It is a global movement that encourages people to reduce meat in their diet for
not only their own health but the health of the planet. By eating less meat, and more plant based
products,
this helps conserve water, saves energy and combat climate change
Climate Change - Climate change looms as one of the biggest environmental crises in human history and the lifecycle and supply chain of livestock products is the largest contributor of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions worldwide.
Currently, the livestock sector is one of the biggest contributors to the worsening climate. It emits an estimate amount go 7.1 gigatonnes of CO2 every year, which is 14.5% of human-induced emissions. Cattles contribute to 65% of the 7.1 gigatonne of emission. An estimated 1.29 billion metric tonnes of waste is produced by the Chinese pork industry every year. And in North America, there exists a “dead zone”, located in the Gulf of Mexico, is depleted of oxygen, due to the nitrogen and phosphorus pollution causes by the hog industry
While beef and lamb generate comparable amounts of methane and require similar quantities of feed, lamb generates more emissions per kilo in part because it produces less edible meat relative to the sheep's live weight
The difference between the 3 figures is quite huge isn't it? That is because the amount of water used by the cows takes into account the water used to grow it's food. From its day to day life, a large amount of water is required to keep it healthy, and this large amount of water would only give you around 300 grams of beef. Whereas, a smaller quanity of water is only required to give you 300 grams of wheat and vegetables.
Thus, proving that for livestocks, especially cattle, contributes the most amount of damage to our environment.
In order to reduce such effects, we should decrease our demand for meat.
Reference link
Everyone knows vegetables are good for you, but do you know that eating lesser meat also has health benefits?
Most meat conists of high amount of saturated fat and is high cholesterol and most processed meat has too much
sodium. Eating lesser of these types of meat can help reduce risk of Heart Diseases, Hypertension, Type 2 diabetes
and many more.
As seen in the above sections, eating less meat will reduce the demand for meat. With lesser demand, there will be
lesser need for a large supply of animals. This will result in less greenhouse gas produced by the livestock.
Lesser Livestock also means more space is being freed up and reforestion of that area can begin, which will further
reduce the greenhouse gas in our atmosphere.
Meatless Monday is it's name states, only one day a week. It isn't permernatly asking you to change your diet and
it is an experience, as you now get to try out different flavors and textures that you wouldn't get from meat.
It only takes once a week to make a better change for the world.
And if you ever feel that you are alone in this journey or are looking for someone to join you, there are many Meatless Monday organisations that you can join and share your experience and get tips and tricks on how to make your meal better! Remember, though it is a small action, together with others that have taken on this challenge, these efforts contribute to a better future.
In every meal, proteins and carbohydrates are what gives you energy and keeps you full. While taking on the Meatless Monday challenge, your meals will consist of the same too! For first timers, It is best to go with plant-based food such as the Impossible Burger. The Impossible burger is mainlymade of soy proteins and contains yeast fermented heme, which is what gives the Impossible burger its meaty taste despite containg no meat at all. When eating this, the difference is practically "impossible" to tell.
Why not start it off with a popular dish with a fancy twist? The words vegan and ramen are not often seen together but the result will blow you away. It is a simple but heartwarming meal that will keep you coming back for more
Click Link to Tofu-Ramen
Let's crank up the flavors as we take on this receipe. This is a vegan spin of the popular asian food, Baos, and you wouldn't expect the ingredients to work so well together. If you are looking for the signature meatiness of the Baos when you try this recipe, try using the impossible meat as a subsititue.
Click Link to Pulled-Mushroom-Baos
Who doesn't love fried chicken wings? Now you can eat as much as you like without the guilt. Do pay attention when you season the cauliflower as it makes a world of difference for the taste of the Cauliflower Buffalo Wings
Clink Link to Cauliflower-Buffalo-Wings-and-Ranch-Dip
This website shows the veggie stalls restaurants in various places in Singapore. There is a free Happycow app in Google Play. Download the app into the hand phone and open the app to find the veggie stalls restaurants around your location. [It is like a Veggie GPS]
Click link to check out Happy Cow
This article takes about what would happen if every human were to chage their diet even for a single day as well as deforestation concerns and climate change. (click on picture to go to the link)
All photos have links to where they have been taken from. Those that do not are made by us.
Logo photo credit to Ella Olsson from Pexels. Link
