Reducing Meat Consumption

My husband and I don't generally eat hugely meat-centered meals, but we do regularly include meat as one of the many foods on our plate. I have considered several ways to change our meat consumption to better align with my goals of eating food that is good for me and good for the planet.

     (1) Eating less meat. Meat takes more resources per serving to produce, so reducing consumption reduces the net resources needed to provide us a meal.
     (2) Eating sustainably/ organically raised meats.  I don't feel comfortable eating meat where I don't have the ability to research the treatment of the animals and they type of foods that they have been provided. I've found that switching most of our grocery shopping to Whole Foods helps with this, as they provide information on the animal's treatment as part of the display at their meat counter. I've also found pre-packaged organic meats at Costco, as well as frozen varieties of sustainably caught fish (see the SeaFood Watch list for a list of sustainable fish choices for your area).
     (3) Evaulating my restaurant choices. We're lucky enough to live in a metro area where it's fairly common practice for restaurants to source sustainably and locally. Spoon and Trowel is a great resource for finding restaurants like this across the country. Chinook Book also requires restaurants to meet their sustainability standards in order to be listed.

However, to be totally fair, I haven't completely overhauled our eating habits in any way. I've done the best with #2- we really don't ever buy non-organic meats to cook at home any more, and we try to do the best we can on making sure that they're sustainable. That said, we still probably eat about the same amount of meat as we always have, and I don't always think about the quality and provenance of meat when we eat out. I'm a work in progress :)

We did have a wonderful meal last night though, and I doube anyone would notice the fact that there's no meat in it. We served this soup with a fresh baguette for dipping:

Pesto Minestrone, Adapted from Pasta: A Cook's Encyclopedia
Chop 1 onion, 1 large carrot and 2 celery sticks. Saute with olive oil in a dutch oven over medium heat.

While that's cooking, chop 1 potato (I used red), a small handful green beans (1-2 inches once chopped), 2 small zucchini, and 1/2 a small cabbage. Add to the pan, saute about 5 more minutes.

Chop 1 small eggplant, 2 roma tomatoes. Add to pan with 1 can cannellini beans (drained and rinsed). Saute 3 more minutes.

Add 5 cups veggie broth, salt and pepper. Cover, and simmer 40 minutes.

Add 1 handful small pieces pasta, cook 4 more minutes (10 if you're using whole wheat pasta).

Top with a dollop of pesto, and serve with bread.