Over the last couple of years I’ve been steadily reducing my meat consumption, and in the last 4 months I’ve become ovo-lacto vegetarian (meaning I still eat some dairy products and eggs occasionally). When people ask why I’m veg, I usually respond “there are a number of reasons but that biggest reason is the environmental effects of eating meat.” A lot of people look puzzled with this response. Here’s a bit of an explanation of the connection between reducing your carbon footprint and reducing meat consumption:

Acccording to treehugger.com’s guide to greening your meal “Meat is the most resource-intensive food on the table and eating less of it can be the single most green move a person makes. Producing meat requires huge amounts of water, grain, land, and other inputs including hormones and antibiotics, and leads to pollution of soil, air, and water. A pound of beef requires around 12,000 gallons of water to produce, compared to 60 gallons for a pound of potatoes.”

Not convinced yet? Here are some other stats:
• A meat-based diet requires 7 times more land than a plant-based diet according to veg.ca.
• According to the United Nations Food & Agriculture Organization , livestock production is responsible for more climate change gasses than all the motor vehicles in the world. In total, it is responsible for 18 percent of human induced greenhouse gas emissions. This is due to methane, manure, deforestation to expand pasture, fertilizers and pesticides for feed crops.
• In Latin America, 70 percent of former forests in the Amazon have been turned over to grazing.
• Animal waste accounts for 64 percent of ammonia, which contributes significantly to acid rain.
• The meat industry is immensely resource intensive and accounts for 70% of the water pollution in the US. (treehugger.com)
• Livestock production is at the heart of almost every environmental catastrophe confronting the planet – rain forest destruction, spreading deserts, loss of fresh water, air and water pollution, acid rain and soil erosion.


Being the single most green move a person can make, I’m really disappointed that reducing meat consumption is not more center stage to the current environmental movement. I guess that might be due to the fact that vegetarianism is a bit more controversial than changing the kind of light bulb you use. But most of the concerns people have about vegetarianism are misconceptions. For example, with a little effort and nutritional planning you can get plenty of protein on a vegetarian diet. Not ready to give up meat all together? Start by just trying to eat meat-free just one day a week. Even small steps make a difference. Also, if you do continue to eat meat, consider switching to free-range, organic meets (these farms are usually smaller and don't load their animals up with antibiotics and hormones).

Ready to go veg? Check out this link for a free vegetarian starter kit! Or here for vegetarian recipes.


and just in case you like to make moral choices based purely on asethetics...

Check out this summary of where 2008 US presidential canidates stand on environmental policy!

I just created this delicous stir fry for lunch! all made from locally grown, seasonal produce of course.

Autumn Stir-Fry

1 large sweet potato, cubed
1 medium red onion, sliced
1 red bell pepper, diced
4 cloved garlic sliced
1 cup cooked chickpeas, drained
2-3 inches fresh rosemary and oregano
a few dashes of salt and pepper

put all togehter in large frying pan with 2 Tbs olive oil and cook on medium heat, stiring occasionally until potatos are soft and browning. serve over a bed of fresh spinach or quinoa.

makes 2 servings, total prep and cooking time 15-20 minutes.

today i went to the musée des beaux-arts de montréal with a friend. we went to the e-art exhibit. there were some really fun, interative pieces in it. Quebecer, Marie Chouinard's piece, Cantique 3, was SO much fun. i have never laughed so hard in a museum! if you're in the area, take time to check out the exhibit. it's FREE every day (as is the rest of the museum all fall)!

unmuddling

i tend to be a very future oriented person. i'm a dreamer, an idealist. i've got lots of plans. this has its advantages. for example i attribute my ability to work for something in the future- to set a goal and work towards it- as one of the primary reasons that i've had some amazing experiences...such as my studies and work in burkina faso, or my overall progress in learning french.
but quiet often, by focusing so much on the future, i lose appreciation for the present. sometimes, i start to feel overwhelmed with all the things i want to accomplish. today it got to the point where my head was completely out of the present and my thoughts started feeling very muddled.

in my attempt to un-muddle, i started making lists of my goals. goals for the present year only (although some of them will hopeful build bridges for longer-term aspirations). This is what the list turned into. too bad i didn't have any pencil crayons to make it even more crazy.



on to lighter yummier things...

i just took a big batch of orange-ginger granola out of the oven.
here's the recette:

mix:
4 cups oats (rolled or not)
1/2-1 cup nuts and seeds (i recomment pecans and pumpkin seeds)
1/2+ grated unsweetend coconut
1-2 inches of fresh ginger, grated
1 tsp salt
1/2 veg oil
1/2 maple syrup

bake at 350 for about 45 minutes, until it starts looking golden and a bit cripsy.

after its baked, while still warm add:
the zest of 1 orange
1/2-1 cup dried fruit (chopped apricots, raisins, cransins)
1/2 c ground flax seeds

makes 2 big yogurt containers full. if you don't eat that fast, you can freeze one of them for at least a month.

enjoy with yogurt as part of a beautifully balanced breakfast. mmmm mmmm mmmmmm

sun shine in uptown waterloo

wish it was this sunny in quebec. its been grey and raining and cold since i got back.

enought of the weather, on to the classifieds: any one in montreal want to hire me?
i've dropped my CV at abut 15 restaurants in the last 2 days. tomorrow i'm hoping to get to about 10 or 15 more.

sports? well not exactly. but a had a yoga class tonight, its ashtanga style. it was a fabulous escape from the rain.

happy canadian thanksgiving!



a pelee thanksgiving wouldn't be complete with out a dip in the lake and some fire battons!

tomorrow morning i embark for thanksgiving (or "l'action de grace" as the french have it) #2. after going through a plan B and plan C of how i am getting to southwestern ontario, plan D has worked out and i now have ride for 8am sharp tomorrow morning. my ride, found on craigs list, is taking me as far as toronto. in toronto i'm very excited about plans to meet a couple of friends for a late lunch at my favorite veg restaurant. Late afternoon i'll catch a bus to KW where i'll spend the night and the next day. and then i'll head down to the island




to have



oh, and maybe some of this, considering the locale,


with these fabulous folks



de retour monday evening, back in time for classes tuesday morning!

Thanksgiving Dinner, numero un



Potlucks are fabulous! Our appartment + 10 guests had a delicous thanksgiving dinner of: cinnamon summer squash soup, sweet potato rolls, roasted vegetable parmasan, nutmeg double baked potatos, turkey, stuffing, gravy, homemade cranberry sauce, apple pie, pumpkin pie, wine, hot milled cider.

So, I've had a cruel induction to city life: my bike was stolen this week. It was a nice red mountain bike (i've since been told that they are the most attractive to theives). Along with it i lost my saddle bags (in the below photo of the trip to the market), a really great bell, and the lock which was cut. i'm pretty sad about it. its been my main from of transit for 3 years now, i was a good, solid bike. plus, being on a tight budget makes unexpected loses a bit stressful.

Not investing in a good quality U lock was my first mistake, because my cable lock was easily cut. my second mistake was leaving it overnight in the parking lot of my building rather than carrying it 2 flights up the fire escape.

after calling my mom and wailing when i found my bike missing in the morning. i walked to my french class. during the break i was chatting with some classmates and told them about my bike. two of them turned out to be avid bikers and were really helpful giving me lots of advice about what to look for in a new bike and how not to have it stolen.

yesterday i started and completed my search for a replacement. i scouted out a couple of bike shops, then turned to craigs list. on craigs i found a couple of listings from this shop called Disco Velo (velo means bike in french).
i gave them a call to get directions and then ventured out to find the place. their "shop" is loced in a shady industrial building between the plateau and mile end. i really nice elevator repair man helped me find their place, which was on the 10th floor. basically its a room that a couple of young guys rent as a bike shop. the go to dumps and sales and buy vintage bikes and parts and then reassemble them. as far as i know, the only way to know about the place is through craigs list or word of mouth. they have about 10 bikes ready to go and for sale at a time. the shop is quite memorable- at the back they've got huge piles of records and a couple of turn tables and being on the 10th floor, there's an awesome view of the city. the two guys that were there working were equally memorable. they were both incredibly nerdy, but in this hip, 80s, mechanical way. one was wearing an 80s teal and purple shirt and sunglasses that matched. they were supper nice and helpful, and even give me a little lesson to how bike gears work.
I ended up buying this bike.

i'm pretty happy with it so far. i need to get the seat raised a bit more, but other than that, the brakes are good, the gears are good, its light enough to carry up to my fire escape and ugly enough that i don't think it will get stolen too quick. i also invested in a good german U lock. i know this sounds cliché, but even frustrating, difficult experience you can find places to learn, grow and explore (and meeting groovy people).

tomorrow, if its not raining, i'll take my new ride to the market to get some summer squash to make Erin's Puréed Butternut Squash Soup for our thanksgiving dinner sunday (it delicious- look for the recipe in my October 2006 archives on this blog).