How Eating Plants Can Improve Your Health… And the Planet’s Too.
A plant-heavy diet has been recommended for better human health for a long time. But did you know that eating more plants is good for the planet too?
The Earth’s climate is changing. The change shows up in virtually every indicator that the International Panel on Climate Change tracks, from rising global greenhouse gas emissions, sea levels, and air and ocean temperatures to more heatwaves, heavy rains, persistent droughts and flooding on the coasts.*
“The climate crisis has arrived and is accelerating faster than most scientists expected,” said a “climate emergency” warning from 11,000 scientists in 153 countries in January. *
It can be overwhelming to know what to do about such a huge problem, but there is one simple change anyone can make today that can make a difference: eating more plants and less animal foods.
“Globally, livestock systems are responsible for around 11 to 15 percent of greenhouse gas emissions, they occupy 80 percent of global agricultural land, and they use around 30 percent of agricultural water.” **
Why is the impact of beef so much greater than other foods? Partly this is because of how their digestive systems work. Digesting grass is a long and complicated process for the cow and a lot of methane gas, which comes out as burps and farts, is produced in the process. And methane is about 25 times more potent as a greenhouse gas than C02.
But if you need even more reasons to pump up the plants in your diet, plant proteins are high in fibre and low in fat which can help to ward off cancer, decrease risk of heart disease and stroke, decrease risk of diabetes and to boot – it’s usually less expensive than a meat-heavy diet. A pound of beans is about $1.20 whereas a pound of beef is over $5.00.
And you don’t have to become a vegan to make a difference. Even just replacing meat in a few meals a week can make a big difference.
When our family began to reduce our meat consumption we found Meatless Mondays to be a helpful place to start. Meatless Monday is a campaign to encourage people to eliminate meat from their diet on Mondays. Over time meatless Mondays allowed us to expand the list of meatless recipes that we enjoy. Chickpeas can almost always be substituted for chicken. Black beans or lentils are a great alternative for beef.
So why not give it a try? How about coconut chickpea curry? Lentil and black bean chili? Thai peanut stir fry? The options are endless and the benefits abound, for this generation and the next.
Graph source: Science 360: 987, 2018