Go Greener, Australia

Yesterday I posted about how eating less meat is good for the environment. Today I’m going to show you some tactics you can use to gradually cut back on the frequency or quantity of meat you eat. I’ve put them roughly in order from easy to more difficult, so you can start with the slack options

Tasty treats

The next time you decide to go out for dinner, try a vegetarian restaurant, or one that caters to vegetarians. It’s a good opportunity to taste foods you wouldn’t usually eat, like tofu or lentils. And you’ll be able to see what kinds of things can be done when you don’t have to include meat in every dish. I love the nachos and breakfasts at Source Foods on Beaufort St in Perth, but would like to try more places. If you’ve got a good vego restaurant near you, let us know in the comments

Get educated

I was pretty grossed out by the details of how animals are farmed - it really makes you think about what you’re eating and can help motivate you to stick to your changes. Check out the information on factory farming at PETA’s GoVeg site (videos as well), or the SaveBabe website, and for a lighter take on such a serious subject, watch Moofeus free the pigs in The Meatrix (remember that although cows in Australia are usually kept in pasture, chickens and pigs are factory farmed here, and the slaughtering process is pretty bad for all of them).

Buy less meat

When you’re working out how much meat to buy, keep in mind that people only need one serve a day,which is 65-100g. That’s about the size of a deck of cards. If you don’t buy large portions of meat to start with, you’ll find it easier to cut back, especially if you’re the sort of person who has to eat everything on your plate. And since the price of meat keeps going up, this can save you a bit of money.

Buy only sustainable meat

When you’re at the shops, restrict what sorts of meat you buy. You could stop buying red meat; or restrict yourself to free-range or organic meats instead. That way, when you get home you’ve got little choice but to reduce the amount of meat you’re eating. Unfortunately, if your butcher or supermarket stock lots of sustainable meat, this won’t do much to help you - you’ll still be able to eat quite a lot of meat, and will have to try harder…

Learn to cook meat-free meals

This is where you might have to learn some new skills, although you probably already have a few favourite meals that don’t have meat in them: bruschetta and Dave’s leek and mushroom pasta are my faves. You can try replacing meat with things like tofu or seitan as well.

Taste.com.au allows you to search for vegetarian recipes. If you need a bit of inspiration, try some of the fantastic vego and vegan blogs out there: the photos at VeganYumYum make me hungry in an instant! I’ve also bought a vegetarian cookbook, Fresh Food Fast by Peter Berley, and try out new recipes from it often. If you’ve got any good recommendations for books or websites with recipe ideas, please let me know, especially if they’re Australian (converting ounces to grams does my head in!)

Set yourself a challenge

Decide on a challenge, and try it out for a while. Some examples might be: making Tuesdays meat-free; meat-free lunches; giving up beef; or trying one new vego recipe a week. Do it for a month and see how you go - it could become a permanent change.

Dave and I have been doing all of these except for the last one, but we’re tackling that next. Tomorrow I’ll tell you about the challenge we’ve set for next week…