Time to get your veg on peeps…today, March 20th marks the Great American Meatout!! Launched in 1985 by FARM (Farm Animal Rights Movement), a national non-profit, Meatout is an international event that “advocates plant-based (vegan) diets to save animals, protect the environment, and improve health.”
FARM believes people should participate in Meatout because over 10 billion animals are “tortured and slaughtered every year in the meat industry,” “agriculture is a leading cause of global warming and other environmental issues,” and “a majority of the illnesses faced in the United States stem from animal consumption.”
According to FARM, adopting a full vegan diet can:
- Spare 200 animals a year
- Preserves 53,000 sq. ft. of rainforest a year
- Saves 1.3 million gallons of water a year
But even if you eliminate animal products for 1 to 2 days a week, you can:
- Spare 28 animals a year
- Preserves 770 square ft. of rainforest a year
- Saves 190,000 gallons of water a year
Eating no meat (or even less meat) can be healthier for you (can lower your cholesterol, risk of cancer), kinder to the environment (reduces your carbon footprint) and is kinder to animals. Eating vegan doesn’t mean deprivation. A beautiful bounty of fruits, vegetables, grains, beans, legumes, nuts, spices awaits — a culinary journey of exploration.
Eating vegan isn’t about what you lose. It’s about what you gain. It’s about aligning beliefs of compassionate and ethical consumption with your actions.
Even if you incorporate one or two of these tips — swapping out meat for tofu or beans, substituting soy or almond milk for dairy milk, drinking fruit smoothies, reading cookbooks, fostering vegan community — just a few changes and several substitutions really can make a world of difference for you, for animals and for the planet.
So without further adieu, here’s a roundup of vegan tips to get you started:
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10 Tips for Going Vegetarian or Vegan
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Our Hen House’s Jasmin Singer & Mariann Sullivan at The Seed — Think Vegan: 10 Tips to Get You Started
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Stocking the Vegan Pantry
The Opinioness 