Plant-Based Eating For Beginners
When I posted something about eating less meat on my Facebook page recently I wasn’t really expecting it to be controversial. I was asking if my audience were interested in more plant-based recipes specifically for pregnancy, postpartum, babies and toddlers. Many were.
But the conversation also made some people really angry, and I wasn’t expecting that! I was surprised that some people got so upset at the thought of eating less meat until I realised this is really all wrapped up in the misogyny of climate deniers. Eating is profoundly personal and cultural, and meat is laden with meaning. “For climate sceptics … it was not the environment that was threatened, and it was a certain kind of modern industrial society built and dominated by their form of masculinity.”
Whilst climate change is the biggest challenge humans have ever faced, I’ve realised it’s also the best chance we’ve got to smash the patriarchy once and for all!
And that’s scaring some of the world’s most powerful people.
But back to the original question of more plant-based meals...
The reason I brought it up in the first place was that many of my friends and students, mostly parents, are asking me more about plant-based foods. Parents are becoming more aware of the impacts of meat on our health and the planet and wondering how to raise healthy children with plant-rich foods, whilst protecting their future.
Since I’ve been vegetarian for nearly my entire life I’ve never had to transition my diet or learn to cook plant-based foods or consider their nutritional value. I’ve always been generally healthy and I’ve never been iron deficient (except during one of my pregnancies) so I’ve kinda just always assumed my plant-based diet is working fine. It’s been interesting for me to hear other people’s concerns about plant-based eating so I thought it would be worth exploring since I’ve never really thought about that deeply myself.
To be clear I’m never one for rules and regulations! I think it would be great for everyone to consume less meat, poultry, and seafood, and perhaps even fewer eggs and dairy, without needing to commit to an all-or-nothing diet. I could never give up butter, and I know many of you could never give up bacon, and the good news is you don’t have to. Maybe you’d prefer to count yourself as a flexitarian, reducetarian or omnivore.
But we do all need to eat more plant-based foods overall. And here’s why.
Plant Rich Food And Your Health
Many years ago, upon learning that I was vegetarian, the first question people used to ask me was how to get enough protein, but fortunately, I think that myth has been pretty well dispelled by now.
When Frances Moore Lappe wrote her groundbreaking book Diet for a Small Planet back in 1971 she sold millions of copies and had a huge influence on our understanding of the environmental impact of meat, influencing many readers to turn to a more plant-based diet, including my own parents.
But she made one mistake.
"In 1971 I stressed protein complementarity because I assumed that the only way to get enough protein ... was to create a protein as usable by the body as animal protein. In combating the myth that meat is the only way to get high-quality protein, I reinforced another myth. I gave the impression that in order to get enough protein without meat, considerable care was needed in choosing foods. Actually, it is much easier than I thought.”
The World Health Organisation recommends we only need to get 10-15% of our calories from protein, so the concern that you may not get enough protein on a plant-based diet is easily dismissed.
Perhaps a more realistic concern is missing out on micronutrients like iron, B12, zinc, and omega-3, but this is really only consideration on a strict all-or-nothing diet. If you plan on being flexible and eating fewer animal products (but not none), this really shouldn’t be a problem for you.
According to the American Heart Association eating less meat decreases your chances of heart disease, certain types of cancers, strokes, diabetes, and many other chronic illnesses.
The University of Oxford published a study in 2016 that found the potential health impacts of plant-based eating would save $1 trillion worldwide in annual health-care costs and lost productivity and a reduction of global mortality of 6-10%.
Kinda makes you stop worrying so much about micronutrients!!!
I guess the main thing to keep in mind is that just because a food is vegan, doesn’t mean it’s healthy. Coca-cola is vegan. It’s more important to consider what you put into your body then what you leave out. As Michael Pollan famously advised “Eat food. Mostly Plants. Not too much.”
If you’d like a little more detailed guidance I also like Professor Michael Berk’s four rules of healthy eating:
If it comes from a farm it's probably good for you; if it comes from a factory it probably isn't.
Does it rot? If it doesn't, it's unlikely to be good for you.
Does it have a brand? If so, it's also unlikely to be good for you.
Would your great-grandmother have recognised it as food?
So now we know that plant-based foods are great for your health, let’s take a look at the planet.
Plant-Based Food And The Planet
I’ve never really been vocal about plant-based diets. When I published my vegetarian recipe book back in 2013 it didn’t even say vegetarian on the front cover!
But when I saw the Amazon burning and learned that 70% of deforestation is because of cattle ranching I felt like it’s time for me to speak up. On top of that Brazil alone has 24 to 25 million hectares devoted to the production of soy, 80 per cent of which would end up as animal feed. But it’s not only Brazil, here in Australia we are one of the worst deforesters in the world, and most of that land clearing is for livestock.
Raising livestock contributes somewhere between 15% and 50% of global greenhouse gas emissions, depending on who is counting and how. Either way, it’s significant!
The exciting thing about this data is that it is one of the rare climate solutions that you can actually do something about at an individual level, right now. Everyone can choose to eat a more plant-rich diet today. Plus you’ll probably save money and get healthier!
A plant-rich diet is the fourth largest solution to climate change, according to the brilliant book Draw Down - The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming. We could save 66.11 gigatons of carbon emissions by 2050 if just 50% of the global population reduce their meat consumption.
And More Benefits…
I really could go on and on! Livestock takes up MUCH more land than plants resulting in more deforestation and less food. If plant crops were fed directly to humans instead of livestock, around 70% more food would be added to the world’s supply - enough to feed the world’s malnourished more than four times over!!! And don’t even get me started on animal welfare...
So Now You Know Why, Next, We’ll Take A Look At How
Instead of being the exception, I believe plant-based meals should become the norm, especially in public places such as hospitals, schools and restaurants. I still get frustrated when eating out that there are so few vegetarian or vegan options on most menus. No wonder many people still wonder what we actually eat!
Here's a handy little guide to greenhouse gas emissions of some common foods from the book 2040 (I highly recommend it and the movie - they are very inspiring!) What really struck me about this graph is that it looks just like an Ayurvedic diet. Staple foods are fruit and vegetables, legumes and pulses, cereals and grains and some diary for B12. Foods higher up the carbon ladder are saved for feasts and celebrations or for healing and medicine. It makes sense that this diet was created to sustain a large population with limited resources.
And this cool pic, also from the 2040 book, gives you an idea of what reducing your meat intake actually looks like.
There are many ways you can do this.
You could try Meat Free Mondays or introduce them to your school or workplace.
You can take the Reducetarian Pledge.
You could try being Vegan before 6 pm or become a weekday Vegetarian.
And to help get you started, I’ll be back soon with plant-based recipes for pregnancy, postpartum and babies and toddlers in future blog posts.
Learn More About The Plant-based Series >>> Plant-Based Eating For Pregnancy , Plant-Based Eating For Postpartum and Plant-Based For Babies And Toddlers.
