Go Vegetarian 2X a Week

Reduce Meat Consumption for a Healthier, More Sustainable Diet

30 Days to Green Your Diet - Vegetarian recipes even meat eaters will love.

Photo: John Foxx / Getty Images

By Deborah Barrow

30 Days to a Greener Diet - Day 15

By now in the greening of your diet, you’ve begun to reduce the amount of meat you’re eating, and you're becoming a more compassionate carnivore by sustainably sourcing that meat from grass-fed, free-range or organic local farms. But it still remains true that eating meat takes a toll on the environment. The beef, poultry and pork industrial farms notoriously contribute to water pollution, use large amounts of fossil fuels and generate prodigious amounts of greenhouse gases.

In addition, the world’s poorest people are subject to ever higher prices for their staple grains as the world’s meat producers and corn ethanol producers compete with them for the grains formerly grown primarily as food for people just a few years ago.

We’re not saying you have to forgo meat entirely. Just reduce your daily meat consumption and go deliciously vegetarian just two times a week as part of your commitment to greening your diet. Today’s vegetarian recipes are more delicious than ever before. In fact, you might find yourself adding a vegetarian day or two each week without even knowing it.

These tasty vegetarian meals make it easy to go meatless:
Grilled Shiitake Mushrooms with Buckwheat Soba Noodles Recipe
Smoky Root Vegetable Gratin Recipe
5 Flavorful Meat-Free Dishes