Have you ever considered becoming a Weekday Vegetarian? Check out this short speech at TED by Graham Hill, the founder of Treehugger.com.
Instead of a “binary system” of with two choices (“vegetarian” or “not”), it’s a structured alternative in which you decrease your meat consumption by 70%, but don’t give it up altogether.
You’ll get most of the benefits of vegetarianism, without the (perceived) austerity! Plus, when you do eat meat on the weekends, I bet you’ll enjoy it that much more.
It also matches my love of clear-cut, absolute rules. When there’s a gray area, it’s really hard to follow… But decide once that you do not eat meat Monday through Friday, and you’re all set. (Note I say “do not” instead of “will not” — a subtle but important distinction). That’s much more manageable than choosing vaguely to eat “less” meat.
Do you think cutting out meat 5 out of 7 days will be too difficult? Consider switching it around: Become a Weekend Vegetarian first, and see how it goes!
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Here’s the video and a full transcript.
Thanks to Christopher Willett for sending this my way!
Hi. My name is Andrew Wilder, and I think Eating Rules! I write about three of them, and everything in between.
June 28, 2010 at 5:49 pm
This is an interesting idea. I might give that a try. I really do want to cut down on the meat. This sounds like a good way to do it.
June 29, 2010 at 11:17 am
Hi L -
If you give this a try (and I hope you do!), please do let us know how it goes! :)
September 12, 2010 at 7:58 pm
I am a full-time vegetarian, Andrew- That is just my way. But I love your idea. People don’t like hearing it from people such as myself, but Americans eat much more meat than they should. We’re eating a lot more than we did back in the 30s and 40s. Also, people from other countries, such as India, tend to view meat as being a treat: Something to be consumed at Sunday dinner, not three times a day. There are many benefits to choosing to eat meat sparingly, and I hope more people take the iniative, and I also hope that more people will see the benefits of eating locally raised meat rather than purchasing from factory farms.
September 13, 2010 at 9:56 am
Yes, yes, and yes! :)
Thankfully, there is increasing awareness, and hopefully the momentum will continue to build. It’s going to take local (meaning: personal) action to then grow into legislative action to make the big changes we need.
Did you see this article on Grist today? Seems highly relevant, even if they’re talking about meat: http://is.gd/f8Etb
September 12, 2010 at 7:59 pm
And how did I wind up with that gruesome-looking avatar? :D
September 13, 2010 at 9:57 am
Sorry about that… They’re auto-generated, and usually not quite so, umm, hideous.
Go to http://www.gravatar.com, create a free account, and upload a profile pic for your “Global Avatar.” Then it’ll show up instead. :)
September 17, 2010 at 10:35 am
Hahaha. It’s pretty hideous. I’ll probably go sign up for that, but for now I guess I can put up with ugly-face. Someone shared that article on facebook maybe a week ago. We were talking about it. It really seems to me that people need a reality check- Certain fruits and vegetables will only be available at certain times of the year, animals only have so many bits, and whilst chickens do lay eggs they are not egg-laying machines. But people have become so accustomed to being able to have what they want at any given moment, they’ve forgotten how food works. And when they’re confronted with the reality of, “Eat less meat. Eat in season. etc.” they ask, “Why? Why do it that way when we’ve been able to do it this way?” I of course could list endless reasons, but some people seem geuinely dumbfounded.
Something that tends to disturb me is that I notice the way people from other countries, such as Vietnam, look to North America like it’s glorious due to the wide variety and availability of meat and dairy products. They don’t seem to understand the ramifications. When they see our excess, they seem to think they’ve been deprived, and aspire to be more like us. For one instance, I knew this lady who come from a small village in Vietnam. Her village-people lived primarily off rice and veggies. Meat came in the form of occasional seafood. She told me, “This is why we are so thin, so short. Just rice and veggies everyday.” Her son is maybe nine years old. He’s honestly obese. Judging from what she relates to me he eats (his fave is McDonalds and he has it everyday), no, I don’t think it’s just puberty that makes him look chubby. She describes his weight as being “so healthy.” She always tells me, “All that meat and dairy, make you grow up big and strong.” She thinks they’re miracle foods because she didn’t have them in her village growing up.
This isn’t a good thing. And it’s not only food, it’s other excesses as well. Our system has been a mistake of epic proportion, and we need to admit that to the world before they copy our mistakes. That’s not to say other countries are not doing their part and not realising the same things we are, but we in North America have an important role to play in the fate of the Earth and our people in regards to the emerging global crisis.