Meatless Mondays

I am always doing research on ways I can make my family healthier and also help others to make better food choices. As I was searching the web this weekend I came across this amazing site called Parent Earth. Parent Earth’s  mission is to answer parents’ questions about food, and work with partners to create a world that nurtures healthy, thriving children.

They have created this structure in order to give us the ability to serve communities and work on campaigns to improve the food system while at the same time creating a vibrant, profitable social venture that expands the sustainable goods market. Parent Earth believes that all children have a right to healthy, safe, and affordable food, and that enjoying fresh food is one of the great pleasures of life. They are motivated by the idea that to truly take care of our children we must also take care of the world and vice-versa. Us parents are a powerful force for change. Together, we can create a sustainable food system, a system that connects us to the environment and climate, to human rights and healthcare.

When I read the question…“What legacy are we leaving our children?” I know that I want to leave this earth knowing that I gave my children the best tools available to them for all facets of life.  Making healthy food options and taking care of the environment are at the top of my list. When you are aware of what you are putting in your bodies it makes you more aware of  the effect you are having on the environment as well.

There are many ways we can empower ourselves and our children to make better decisions when it comes to things we put in our body and how we live our lives in this world. One of the things I noticed that would be easy to do and also a way we as a family can do something together is Meatless Mondays.

Meatless Monday is a non-profit initiative of The Monday Campaigns, in association with the Johns Hopkins’ Bloomberg  School of Public Health. They provide the information and recipes you need to start each week with healthy, environmentally friendly meat-free alternatives. Their goal is to help you reduce your meat consumption by 15% in order to improve your personal health and the health of the planet.

Presidents Wilson, Truman and Roosevelt galvanized the nation with voluntary meatless days during both world wars. Their intention is to revitalize this American tradition. Meatless Monday and their supporters spearheading a broad-based, grassroots movement that spans all borders and demographic groups. By cutting out meat once a week, we can improve our health, reduce our carbon footprint and lead the world in the race to reduce climate change.

Did you know that if Americans cut meat out of their diets 1 day a week we would have a carbon savings would be the same as taking 19.2 million cars off U.S. roads for a year. We would also save 99.6 megatons of greenhouse gas emissions, the same as 46 million round trip flights from New York to Los Angeles! That is pretty impressive don’t you think…so it’s not all about eating healthy about how we can make a difference in the world. We only have one planet earth so we need to start taking care of her.

So at O’Boy! Organic we are starting Meatless Mondays. Each Monday I will post a new “Meatless” recipe that we will have that evening as our dinner. It will be family friendly, healthy, made with whole foods that you will feel good about putting it into your body. I also invite you to post your favorite Meatless recipes so you too can inspire others to make healthier choices for their bodies and the planet.

So remember when you go meatless on Monday, you are not just eating healthier but saving a piece of the planet one meal at a time.

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