Mama always said

Eating your veggies doesn’t have to be scary 4

Tip #5: Eat your vegetables. Save some moolah (and Ma Earth) by switching out meat for veggies at least one day a week.

Food scareDon’t let them sense your fear.Jeremy E.W. Fredericksen via Creative CommonsIt’s tried and true advice, from the USDA to First Lady Michelle Obama to your mom: Eat more veggies. Considering 78 percent of Americans aren’t eating enough fruits and veggies, it sounds like someone isn’t listening. Instead, Americans are chomping away at a record 222 pounds of meat a year (as of 2003). That’s 45 percent more meat a day than the USDA thinks is a very good idea.

Does going veg still have you quaking?  Cutting a little meat out of your diet doesn’t have to be scary. You don’t have to go whole hog to have a healthy impact. (But if you do, you might even like it.)

Consider that eating less meat can:

Did we mention meat is more expensive than alternatives such as legumes and beans, which you can buy in bulk and store practically forever?

Try starting with one of these tasty recipes—or our fave, “Addictive Sweet Potato Burritos”—and make this a weekly ritual for you and your family. Maybe call it ... Meatless Monday.

Missed the boat on Grist’s attitude toward Earth Day?

Didn’t see Tip #1? Or Tip #2? Or Tip #3? Or Tip #4?

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  1. PermieWriter's avatar

    PermieWriter Posted 11:04 am
    16 Apr 2009

    I'm an omnivore, but we have a vegeterian friend over to dinner once a week. I love the way cooking veggie challenges my cook-fu. We're down to eating meat a couple of times a week (at least for dinner). That makes it way more financially manageable to invest a lot in that meat (great, pasture-raised beef, Seafood Watch-approved selections and our own backyard raised rabbit). Besides, who needs any excuse to eat fresh artichokes and asparagus?

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  2. tracyd82 Posted 11:09 am
    16 Apr 2009

    I love carrots - but I am still scared of peas!!!

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  3. jgrayson Posted 3:22 pm
    17 Apr 2009

    If you find shopping for fresh produce every week too time-consuming, consider an organic produce delivery service. You'll be supporting local farms, feasting on produce that is super-fresh and seasonal (and thereby more nutritious), and minimizing fuel consumption by cutting down on individual trips to the market.

    Click here to read more.

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