Meatless Monday

Yesterday we had a really nice, vegetarian dinner. I did not purposefully set out to have a meat-less meal. It was simply what I felt like eating when I was arranging the menu for the week. It wasn’t until we sat down to eat that I realised it was Monday. I’ve read on a few blogs about Meatless Mondays. It is a ‘movement’ I guess where people are taking meat out of their diet on just one day a week. The idea being that meat is a very expensive commodity in environmental currency. Meat production costs a lot of water, a lot of grain, a lot of petrochemical fuels and fertilizers, and uses a lot of space. These are all things that we actually need for other things, such as feeding the world’s starving. Then there are also the ethical aspects of meat production – the way animals are housed, fed, transported and slaughtered. I have not worried too much about researching further, as I believe that these concerns sit well and relevantly for me, so to speak, fitting well with my own personal philosophies.

The other issue I feel comes into the meat versus no-meat debate is that we really do we eat too much meat in our Western diet so it sure wouldn’t hurt to eat a bit less and instead eat some more veges! It is this reason predominantly that has led me to progressively reduce the amount of meat Boyo and I eat. Not being very skilled or knowledgeable about preparing meat-less meals, I instead spent a few years reducing the meat intake of each meal. Our average meat portion is now around 200g for the two of us (so 100g each). I have no idea how this compares to ‘average,’ just that it is less than we used to have! I have learned how to make meat go a longer distance by combining it with beans, rolled oats, or vegetables.

So back to Monday’s dinner. I just decided that we’d have a meat free meal, so we did. Then I realised that it was in fact Meatless Monday. The idea behind Meatless Monday is not to turn the world into vegetarians. It is simply to encourage people to eat a little less meat each. If all westerners ate one meal a week without meat, a lot of grain and water could go to those who really need it. Well, we really enjoyed our meal...even Boyo who loves his meat. And I can quite happily contemplate the bacon and egg pie that he is making us tonight.

Here’s our dinner. Beetroot leaves, celery, tomato and herbs from the garden. Capsicum and lettuce from the farmers market. Kumara, onion, carrots from the supermarket. I also did sweetcorn, but we were in a rush to pick up a lawnmower and decided we didn’t really need it anyway!

It was a really yummy dinner and I’m thinking of making Meatless Monday a regular event. I haven’t told my meat-loving husband yet though!

Have you had a nice meat-free meal recently? Do you have any favourites you’d like to share?

Photos are coming...just as soon as I get the camera cable out of a box to download them!
Amy