Weekday Vegetarianism
Jun 23, 2010
Have you ever considered becoming a Weekday Vegetarian? Check out this short speech at TED by Graham Hill, the founder of Treehugger.com.
Instead of a “binary system” of with two choices (“vegetarian” or “not”), it’s a structured alternative in which you decrease your meat consumption by 70%, but don’t give it up altogether.
You’ll get most of the benefits of vegetarianism, without the (perceived) austerity! Plus, when you do eat meat on the weekends, I bet you’ll enjoy it that much more.
It also matches my love of clear-cut, absolute rules. When there’s a gray area, it’s really hard to follow… But decide once that you do not eat meat Monday through Friday, and you’re all set. (Note I say “do not” instead of “will not” — a subtle but important distinction). That’s much more manageable than choosing vaguely to eat “less” meat.
Do you think cutting out meat 5 out of 7 days will be too difficult? Consider switching it around: Become a Weekend Vegetarian first, and see how it goes!
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Here’s the video and a full transcript.
Thanks to Christopher Willett for sending this my way!
I think this is a great idea. One of the biggest costs facing us when it comes to trying to purchase local, organic food is the cost and origins of meat. I admit that I’ve been a bit brainwashed into thinking I need protein in the form of meat several times a day, but in the past 4 months I’m coming around more and more to the idea of “meatless” days. Not on purpose or because I’m trying to make a point or anything, but simply for financial reasons. A pound of organic quinoa is less expensive than a pound of organic, local chicken or grass-fed beef.
Hahaha. It’s pretty hideous. I’ll probably go sign up for that, but for now I guess I can put up with ugly-face. Someone shared that article on facebook maybe a week ago. We were talking about it. It really seems to me that people need a reality check- Certain fruits and vegetables will only be available at certain times of the year, animals only have so many bits, and whilst chickens do lay eggs they are not egg-laying machines. But people have become so accustomed to being able to have what they want at any given moment, they’ve forgotten how food works. And when they’re confronted with the reality of, “Eat less meat. Eat in season. etc.” they ask, “Why? Why do it that way when we’ve been able to do it this way?” I of course could list endless reasons, but some people seem geuinely dumbfounded. Something that tends… Read more »
And how did I wind up with that gruesome-looking avatar? 😀
Sorry about that… They’re auto-generated, and usually not quite so, umm, hideous.
Go to http://www.gravatar.com, create a free account, and upload a profile pic for your “Global Avatar.” Then it’ll show up instead. 🙂
I am a full-time vegetarian, Andrew- That is just my way. But I love your idea. People don’t like hearing it from people such as myself, but Americans eat much more meat than they should. We’re eating a lot more than we did back in the 30s and 40s. Also, people from other countries, such as India, tend to view meat as being a treat: Something to be consumed at Sunday dinner, not three times a day. There are many benefits to choosing to eat meat sparingly, and I hope more people take the iniative, and I also hope that more people will see the benefits of eating locally raised meat rather than purchasing from factory farms.
Yes, yes, and yes! 🙂
Thankfully, there is increasing awareness, and hopefully the momentum will continue to build. It’s going to take local (meaning: personal) action to then grow into legislative action to make the big changes we need.
Did you see this article on Grist today? Seems highly relevant, even if they’re talking about meat: http://is.gd/f8Etb
Hi L –
If you give this a try (and I hope you do!), please do let us know how it goes! 🙂
This is an interesting idea. I might give that a try. I really do want to cut down on the meat. This sounds like a good way to do it.