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You Need To Try Tempeh
My sister, a vegetarian for over four years now, has been one of my biggest inspirations for wanting to give up eating meat. One recent evening while I was staying at her home, she offered to make one of her favorite dishes: smoked tempeh sandwiches. My response? “What the heck is tempeh?” It turns out tempeh is a fermented soy product. The difference between tempeh and tofu is that tempeh is made from whole soybeans, while tofu is not. The soybeans are compressed into a “cake,” offering a chewy and hearty texture. Plus, it is packed with plant-based protein! The sandwiches turned out delicious. The tempeh was marinated in barbecue…
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Eat Local!
Buying local food is a growing movement that has many environmental benefits. One of the most important benefits of buying local food is that it reduces your food miles. When you buy produce or meat from a grocery store, it is more than likely that these products have traveled over 1000 miles to get to you. That’s a lot of CO2 missions. Luckily, buying local greatly diminishes this footprint. Upon doing research for one of my classes, I stumbled upon a website called EatWild. Basically, it is a huge database for you to find locally grown produce and meats in your area. It gives you lists of farms including their…
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The Problem With Palm Oil
Palm oil. Ever heard of it? It’s found in about half of packaged products sold in US grocery stores, lurking in your favorite snack foods and many other household items such as laundry detergent, toothpaste, makeup, and shampoo. Palm oil has become the most widely used vegetable oil on Earth because of how well it grows in tropical communities and the minimal care it requires unlike other vegetable oils. However, this rapidly growing demand for palm oil comes at a high price. The production of palm oil is one of the leading causes for the destruction of rainforests. A majority of world palm oil supply comes from Malaysia and Indonesia…
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Environmentally-Friendly Fast Food?
As I mentioned in one of my earlier posts, eating less meat is one of the best things we can do for the overall well-being of the planet. One might think that going vegan or vegetarian means you have to sacrifice the enjoyment of eating fast food from time to time. Luckily, however, as trends for veganism and vegetarianism continue to rise, fast food corporations have begun to participate as well. I used to think that I wouldn’t be able to enjoy fast food if there wasn’t any meat involved. It turns out that is simply not the case! One day, I started ordering my Qdoba or Chipotle burritos without…
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How Big is Your Ecological Footprint?
As more and more studies emerge about the degradation of the environment, everybody wants to point fingers. However, it is important to recognize that we are ALL responsible in some way or another. Sure, there are a lot of things that are beyond our control as individuals. However, our daily choices, such as choosing to eat meat everyday, have a large impact as well. It may be hard to imagine this impact because so many factors come into play. Fortunately, however, there is a tool out there that shows you how many planets we would need if everyone lived the same lifestyle as you. Personally, it really helped me to see…
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Ditch the Plastic Bags
I cannot stress this one enough guys: REUSABLE GROCERY BAGS. I recommend these not only because it is important that we cut back on our single-use plastics, but also because reusable grocery bags are incredibly convenient. In my college town, we only have a Walmart to buy our groceries from. That meant that every time I would go and get a bunch of groceries, I was leaving with 6-10 plastic bags full of stuff. I would have to make extra trips from my car to my apartment to get everything inside; and it was just an all-around inconvenience for myself as well as the environment. I finally decided to purchase…
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Netflix and Chili
Feeling down from the cold weather? Trying not to eat meat but craving a delicious, hearty meal? Then this VEGAN CHILI is right for you! For all you college students, the ingredients only cost me $12 at Walmart, and this recipe yielded a HUGE pot of chili! I found a recipe online for vegan chili a couple weeks ago, and finally decided to give it a try. I tweaked it a bit and added some ingredients to my liking, but if you’d like to check his recipe out, here you go. Here is what you’ll need: -1 large onion (diced) -Red, green, and yellow bell peppers (1 of each) -1…
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The Earth’s Got Beef With Us
For my first post, I am going to share one of the most important things you can do to help in the battle against climate change: eat less meat. Specifically, eat less beef. I know, that’s probably not what you want to hear, because cheeseburgers just really hit the spot, but did you know that livestock operations account for roughly 50% of methane emissions into the atmosphere? Of domestic livestock, the beef cow/calf sector is the largest contributor of methane emissions (source). Not only this, but meat production requires massive amounts of Earth’s resources. For more information, check out this video. Look, I understand that cutting back on meat is not easy for…
