Meal Monday
What is Meatless Monday? It an old idea that is more relevant today than when it was first conceived almost a century ago.
During World War I, Meatless Monday was promoted by the FDA as a way for Americans to help support the war effort. It was revived during World War II when commodities like beef were being rationed.
Today, “Meatless Monday” is a campaign run in association with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and it is supported by 28 other schools of public health in the United States.
The idea is that going without meat even just one day a week will reduce your saturated fat intake by close to 15 percent. The goal of the Meatless Monday campaign is to reduce national intake of saturated fat by that amount by 2010.
There are other advantages, too, to forgoing meat once a week. You will save money and do something good for the planet.
As environmental activist Anna Lappé noted in this press release, “When we think about the climate crisis, we tend to think about Big Oil or dirty coal-fired power plants. Meanwhile, the global food system is responsible for as much as one-third of our total greenhouse gas emissions. Livestock alone contributes more to the global warming effect than emissions from the world's transportation."
Do you want some kid-friendly Meatless Monday ideas? Well, the Meatless Monday campaign has their own site complete with recipes.
But mommy bloggers are getting in on the act, too. Check out Stroller Derby, which has posted the following ideas:
Veggie Noodle Stir Fry (because kids love pasta)
Veggie Dips (who doesn’t love dips?)
Also take a look at Domestic Divas slow cooked two bean chili. Yum . . .
Kim O’Donnel of the The Washington Post has also gotten on the band wagon. Check out the Meatless Monday section of A Mighty Appetite.
Kim serves up a lot of really interesting vegetarian menu ideas: Zucchini Meatballs with Red Sauce, Sweet Potato Tacos, Peanut Butter ‘n Apple Noodles, Veggie Pot Pie. . . . You really have to spend some time looking through the archive.
The recipe I want to try tonight, though, is from elsewhere in the archives: A Bean Burger Worth Biting Into.
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