A Good Plan for Healthier People and a Healthier Planet

According to EWG’s (Environmental Working Guide’s) Meat Eater’s Guide to Climate Change + Health, if everyone in the U.S. skipped eating meat and cheese just one day a week for a year, it would be like pulling 7.6 million cars off the road. At the same time, people — especially kids — would be less likely to develop health problems such as obesity and heart disease.

Critically acclaimed chef, restaurateur, award-winning author, and television personality, Mario Batali is arguably one of the most recognized and respected chefs working in America today. His statement as to a helpful solution is something I found worth sharing.  His approach to helping the environment and humans get healthier makes a lot of sense and is easy to implement.

Chef Mario Batali says “My restaurants were already very vegetable heavy, but I came to realize that vegetables did not have to be only a condiment or a side dish, and we’ve added more veg-centric entrée-type options. I wanted to make it easier for other people to cut back on meat, so we began promoting Meatless Monday and offering alternating veggie specials every week!”

This issue is particularly important to me because it so profoundly affects children. Studies have found that young kids are eating triple the currently recommended amount of protein, mostly from meat, yet few eat enough fruits and vegetables. If we don’t take action now and teach our kids how to eat less meat, more and more of them could face serious health conditions such as heart disease, stroke and even some types of cancer as they get older.

You can help your family eat healthier by serving them a tasty meatless meal once a week. And if we all do it together — cutting down on the chemical fertilizers, fuel, pesticides and toxic chemicals that harm the environment — we’ll make a huge difference!

You don’t have to be a vegetarian to eat healthier. That’s not realistic for everyone, but you can make a lasting impact on your health and on our planet by making even small changes to your diet!

ewg@ewg.org
mariobatali.com