Have a Meatless Monday

Eating vegetarian, even one day a week, can have lasting benefits for your health and the environment.

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vegetable grill with balsamic red wine glaze

Photo: James Baigrie

By Dan Shapley

To say we're not all cut out to be vegetarians is an understatement. Barely one quarter of Americans eat the recommended number of servings of fruits and vegetables daily, and by some calculations we eat the equivalent of two hamburgers' worth of meat daily!

The health benefits of eating more fruits and vegetables, along with whole grains and legumes, are well-known, and the evidence in support of plant-based diets is only getting stronger with each study, it seems. Eating low on the food chain also has benefits for the environment, since it takes less water, fertilizer and other resources to produce grains, fruits and vegetables than it does to raise chickens, cows, pigs or other animals we eat.

One good way to sneak more vegetables into your diet is to launch a full-on assault one day a week. The Meatless Monday movement has caught the imaginations of many people, inspiring them to find vegetarian options for their three square meals one day a week. Inevitably, as you develop recipes you enjoy, those vegetarian options will infiltrate the other meals you eat throughout the week.

So visit MeatlessMonday.com to learn more about the community of once-a-week vegetarians, or just get started with one of TheDailyGreen's vegetarian and vegan recipes, like the vegetable grill with balsamic glaze pictured here.

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