How can you make an impact?
When you develop a plant based lifestyle, you are making one of the largest impacts an individual can make on your own health and the health of the planet. Eating plant based is good for you, it's inclusive (think of that dinner party where you are needing to accommodate numerous dietary restrictions), it's beautiful & tasty, it's good for the planet and of course for the animals. The bonus is - no matter what your motivation, you are impacting all of these areas!
What’s so easy about Plant Based Cooking?
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- If you can cook with meat, you can cook with plants. Pull out your favorite seasonings and play with them in your plant powered recipes.
- Try new foods and learn which flavor combinations you like and recycle them in various dishes.
- It’s inexpensive: buy in bulk, shop your farmer's markets for what is local and in season, check out weekly ads for what is on sale and create your menu plan around these items.
- If something doesn’t taste good or the texture isn’t right try repurposing the item. Your veggie burgers aren't holding together like you hoped? Crumble them up and freeze them, you can use this next time you are having a Taco Tuesday or Spaghetti night.
- It’s not like it’s raw/undercooked meat - it won’t make you sick when you eat it raw or undercooked and you don't have to be overly cautious about washing, in fact - some dirt is good for you!
- Experience colorful foods, a multitude of textures and so much variety - challenge yourself to try using one new item each week.
- Most anything is now available in a plant based form: plant milks, cheese, mock meats, dairy free ice cream - and there are wonderful recipes for making these at home if you are avoiding processed foods.
- Most of us are fiber deficient and eat half (or less) of the recommended daily fiber intake. This is an easy way to get your fiber in!
- Need inspiration? There are beautiful cookbooks, inspiring YouTube channels and informative documentaries on Netflix. We will provide some additional resources below.
- Plus we offer an Individualized Plant Based Challenge with Jodh and quarterly Plant Based Cooking classes.
There is Something for Everyone
We have all been there - hosting a dinner party, or invited to a potluck and not sure what to bring. Bringing a plant-based dish means you are bringing a dish that most of your friends will be able to enjoy. The vibrant colors, the textures, the fresh-ness - will look so beautiful on the table. We aren’t talking about throwing frozen green beans in the microwave and heating them up (oh was my mom the only person who did that?). We are talking about a dish that is loaded with color, texture, flavor, smell - whether it is cooked or raw, it will be so delicious!
What about your health?
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Research shows Plant-based diets have been associated with:
With a plant based lifestyle, you can experiment with adding more plants and reducing consumption of animal products and potentially notice shifts in your body relatively quickly. For example, when Jodh began running Half Marathons in 2011 she would have such significant IT band tension, she would take anti-inflammatories after long runs 😳. One year after going totally plant-based, she found herself running longer, stronger and without that debilitating IT band pain. Now she is training for her first Marathon and finds her recovery time to be vastly improved. Blood work will also let you know where you stand and it’s possible to see dramatic improvements in blood work in as little as thirty days. Six months after going vegan, Jodh’s historically high cholesterol (even on a vegetarian diet) dropped more than 40 points into the normal range. Given her significant family history of heart disease and high cholesterol this was quite motivating. |
We have only One Planet
The impact of animal agriculture on our planet is staggering:
- About 1⁄2 of the worlds water goes to raising animals for food
- It takes 2400 gallons of water to produce 1 pound of meat and only 24 gallons of water for 1 lb of wheat
- Turkeys, chickens, pigs and cows are the largest producers of methane in US which is 20x more powerful at trapping heat within the earth’s atmosphere than carbon dioxide
- Meat egg and dairy produce 65% of the worlds nitrous oxide which is 300x more powerful at trapping heat within the atmosphere than carbon dioxide
Animal agriculture is taking a toll on our planet. The deforestation, lack of crop rotation, the crops themselves and the water that is required to both water the land and the animals, in addition to the fuel needed for transportation are detrimental to our environment.
"The vast amount of grain feed required for meat production is a significant contributor to deforestation, habitat loss and species extinction In Brazil alone, the equivalent of 5.6 million acres of land is used to grow soya beans for animals in Europe. This land contributes to developing world malnutrition by driving impoverished populations to grow cash crops for animal feed, rather than food for themselves" (vegansociety.com). This is not sustainable - we do not have enough land to feed our growing population a meat based diet.
In addition to the environmental impact, there is a human impact as well. Not only is meat high in saturated fat (which is linked to heart disease and obesity according to the CDC), often animals are given growth hormones and antibiotics which we consume when we eat meat products. Growth hormones have been associated with an increase in cancers and companies are not even required to label meat that contains them. The increased use of antibiotics in animals has resulted in an increase in drug resistant bacteria that is untreatable in human beings.
In rural communities, residents who live next to factory farms are found to have an increase in respiratory, neurobehavioral and mental illnesses. Animal waste is often stored in open air pits and when they are full they compromise the soil and water quality of the land and when they spill, contaminate the community's water. In addition these pits release noxious air pollutants including methane (a greenhouse gas). The workers are impacted as well. 25% of workers at pig factory farms report respiratory problems that include asthma and bronchitis.
"Evidence suggests that living near a factory farm compromises residents’ overall quality of life. Residents in towns near these farms are often forced to keep their windows closed and remain indoors due to foul odors. In a study of one town in the vicinity of a major factory farm, a third of the residents reported that their daily activities were affected by the presence of the operation. Proximity to a factory farm can also substantially decrease property values. A 2003 survey of rural Iowans indicated that the construction of pig factory farm in their area was less desirable to them than that of a prison, a solid waste landfill, a slaughter plant, or a sewage treatment plant." (farmsanctuary.org)
Ahimsa - Do No Harm (but take no 💩)
It’s hard to separate the benefits of eating plant based because they all tie into each other - which is what is so cool about it! When we choose not to eat animals and animal products we are practicing Ahimsa. Ahimsa is the First Yama (or guideline) in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras.
Simply stated, Ahimsa means to practice non-violence. Meaning, do no harm to yourself or any living creature and practice non-violent thoughts. This begs the question, what is worse - eating meat or getting pissed off at the people eating meat around you? Your thoughts can be as damaging to you as the meat is to the person eating it. When practicing Ahimsa, we are mindful about what and how we are consuming our food and digesting our thoughts and experiences. This doesn't mean we can't stand up for what we believe in for ourselves or others (including the animals and our planet).
We love this parable which illustrates this concept so beautifully:
A wandering monk, would make a yearly circuit of villages in order to teach. One day as he entered a village he saw a large and menacing snake who was terrorizing the people. The monk spoke to the snake and taught him about ahimsa. The following year when the monk made his visit to the village, he again saw the snake. How changed he was. This once magnificent creature was skinny and bruised. The monk asked the snake what had happened. He replied that he had taken the teaching of ahimsa to heart and had stopped terrorizing the village. But because he was no longer menacing, the children now threw rocks and taunted him, and he was afraid to leave his hiding place to hunt. The monk shook his head, leaned in and said,. "I did advise against violence," he said to the snake, "but I never told you not to hiss."
Wahe Guru!
🌱Some of our Favorite Resources 🌱
- For planning and support as you transition to a Plant Based Lifestyle or begin to incorporate more veggies into your life, check out our Plant Based Challenge and create an individualized plan with support from Jodh.
- Take a look at our workshops page for our quarterly Plant Based Cooking classes.
- Like Podcasts? Rich Roll is one of our favorites.
- Netflix fan? These are motivational and inspirational:
- Cowspiracy
- What the Health
- Forks Over Knives
- Vegucated
- Fat Sick and Nearly Dead
- Cowspiracy
- Racing Extinction is a Discovery Channel Documentary that is currently available for rent or purchase on Amazon. This is the film that inspired Jodh to adopt a Plant Based lifestyle.
- YouTube also has a wealth of information. We like the following channels for inspiration and recipes:
- Hot for Food
- Unnatural Vegan
- Sweet Potato Soul
- Mary's Test Kitchen
- Hot for Food
- Additional resources online:
- Cronometer.com to track your macronutrients
- Theveganrd.com for supplement and nutritional information
- Cronometer.com to track your macronutrients
