Photo by Dey Alexander

I seem to have grown less carnivorous in the past couple years. It was never really a conscious decision, but more of a gradual progression that was based mostly on practical reasons. Once I realized what was going on, I began to think about more reasons to eat less meat, and the great overall benefits that it brings to ourselves and the planet. Here are a few:

• It is a more efficient use of our natural resources. If you really think about how much food, land, energy, and water it takes to raise animals for meat on a global scale, it’s quite staggering. Instead of inefficiently feeding grains to animals until they are of slaughtering age, you could just feed people directly.
• It is better for the environment. Raising animals for food has a significant impact on the environment, especially when you consider all of the waste that is produced. In fact, according to a recent report by the UN, “Livestock’s Long Shadow - Environmental Issues and Options”, the livestock sector is one of the more significant contributors to the environmental problems that our planet faces, and needs to be addressed in an urgent manner.
• Its cheaper: Some of the most satisfying discount items you’ll find at the grocery store are things like lentils, beans, chickpeas, split peas, and soybeans. (Although if you eat these, I can’t guarantee that you won’t create some emissions of your own ) . You can buy a carton of tofu for about 99 cents, and I’m sure that we’ve all heard the saying ‘to live on peanuts’. Whole grains like brown rice, oatmeal, barley, buckwheat, millet (those are the yellow spheres you find in birdseed), whole wheat, and quinoa all have protein in them and can really fill you up. Eggs and sardines are cheapies as well.
• Its healthier. If you eat less meat, you’ll probably be eating more fruits and vegetables to fill the gap. Numerous scientific studies show that eating more fruits and vegetables leads to better overall health.
• Lower amount of environmental toxins. Since animals are higher than plants on the food chain, it is likely that they will have accumulated more environmental toxins in their tissues. So, if you want to minimize your exposure to the “bad stuff” floating around, you’ll probably be better off eating foods as low on the food chain as possible.
• You don’t have to deal with raw meat. This means less scrubbing of cutting boards, cleaning knives, wiping of countertops, washing your hands, and general vigilance to avoid contaminating your kitchen with foodborne illnesses that might be present in raw meat.
• Ethical reasons. Most people that I know wouldn’t eat a cat or a dog, and yet, they’d have no problem eating a cow–big juicy hamburger or a pig–mouth watering slice of bacon. These are things to think about.
• Possibly more creative meal planning. Without the old chicken standby, I find that my meals offer more variety, and tend to be more creatively planned, simply because I don’t fall back to eating chicken.