Sustainable Ideas...

In the spirit of Tuesday-Tarianism (or Wednesday or Thursday-tarianism, whichever day you prefer to go meat-less), here are five ways to reduce your meat intake without feeling like there’s a hole on your dinner plate.

1. Increase variety as you decrease meat: Eat.Drink.Better.’s Robin Shreeves suggests filling a dinner plate with two vegetables (choose two different colors of veggie to make the plate more appealing), beans, pasta, and more, instead of the typical potato, meat, and one vegetable combination.
2. Expand your options: Vegetarian options (even tofu) don’t have to be bland and mushy. Consider when you can take meat out of the equation (a spicy Thai curry might not really need chicken) and when you absolutely must have it (for the annual grill-off).
3. Buy healthy meat: If you do buy meat, make sure it’s the good stuff. Organic, grass fed, free-range, meat from cows or chickens that are raised the way nature intended. It's a win-win: they’re happier while they’re running around the farm producing less harm to the environment, and they’re healthier on your plate.
4. Consider food miles: One way to know you’re reducing your carbon footprint, and that of your dinner, is to get your meat locally. Check out Eat Wild or The Eat Well Guide to find meat in your area.
5. Rethink what meat means to you: If it’s a garnish or a side dish instead of the main event, you’ll use a lot less. For more tips, see this blog post on grilling.

Photo from the From Whence It Came art project at Carnegie Mellon University taken from Neatorama.