Jonathan Safran Foer’s new book Eating Animals is a thorough look at the ethical and environmental quandaries posed by America’s appetite for meat. His wish is to foster more mindful eating, whether we choose to forego animal-based foods or simply reduce their consumption. Foer graciously ruminated on my meat-y questions when I spoke with him by phone last week.

KT: Your book is making quite a splash; it seems like you have this huge potential to influence a lot of people who haven’t previously given this a whole lot of thought.

JSF: I hope so. I know the topic is not easy to approach. But I also know that if the conversation is had correctly, it’s a conversation Americans are not only willing to have, they want to have.

When I did “Ellen,” I looked at her audience – it’s not Berkeley granola-eaters. It’s people on a fixed income, it’s a lot of mothers, a lot of people who come there from the middle of America. And people care.

KT: The industrial meat industry is attempting to dismiss your critique of their operating methods in the same way they’ve attacked Michael Pollan, Eric Schlosser and all the others who’ve written exposes of factory farming. You presumably expected some backlash; has it been better or worse than you anticipated?

JSF: Infinitely better. The book’s now been reviewed, I don’t know, a hundred times or whatever it is, and there are enough people who think I’m an jerk, there are enough people who think the style is annoying. But there has not been a single argument in defense of factory farming, or against the premise of the book. Not even a whiff of it.

KT: Let me ask you, is the term “conscientious carnivore” an oxymoron?

JSF: No, and I think that points to something important, which is that these words “carnivore” and “vegetarian” do a real disservice to the conversation. They imply an on/off switch rather than a spectrum. When it’s framed as an all-or-nothing, people who don’t feel like they can do everything sometimes think they should do nothing.

KT: Which is why I so like the Meatless Monday campaign. It’s all about moderation – start your week off right. Positive change. Speaking of positive change, I’ve always had this fantasy that factory farming could become obsolete in our lifetime.

JSF: I think it’s not a fantasy. Remember it only came into being during our parents’ lifetime. And you can rest assured it’s going to disappear. The only question is, is it going to disappear voluntarily or involuntarily?

KT: Glenn Beck and PETA’s Ingrid Newkirk recently ganged up on Al Gore, calling him a hypocrite for not adopting a vegetarian diet. If you happened to find yourself seated next to the former vice president at some gala or forum, what would you say to him on this topic?

JSF: He’s a very smart guy, and I’m sure he’s thought of this stuff before. He knows quite a bit more about the environment than Ingrid Newkirk or Glenn Beck. He has a role in the world, an enormously important role. If he were to declare his vegetarianism tomorrow, it’s conceivable that he wouldn’t be able to do his role in the same way. These are the realities of the world. It shouldn’t be, but it’s considered a fringe position. Yet things are changing. 18% of college students now follow a plant-based diet.

KT: Would you be willing to share your Thanksgiving menu with us?

JSF: I would if I knew it! You can probably guess what it won’t include. But I don’t yet know what it’s going to be. There’s some pressure on me to figure it out (laughs.)

KT: You might need to figure that out before you go on Martha Stewart.

JSF: Oh, maybe I’ll even prepare something with her. Wouldn’t that be funny?

The global Meatless Monday movement continues to gain momentum. Britain, Brazil, Holland, Finland and Taiwan have already launched their programs. Now, we’d like to welcome the wonderful people of Canada and congratulate them as they begin their own Meatless Monday!

The Canadian Meatless Monday launched at this year’s Taste of Health convention in Vancouver, Canada. Taste of Health is an opportunity for those concerned with healthy, environmentally friendly food to come together. The convention’s 6,000 attendees welcomed Meatless Monday with open arms.

Nancy Callan, a member of the Board of Directors of Earthsave, and a Meatless Monday advocate, urges Canadians to join the movement:

Unlike many of the solutions to global warming that require government action, Meatless Monday is a tangible personal action that every Canadian can easily embrace. More greenhouse gasses can be prevented by going meatless one day a week than by eating locally seven days a week.

Meatless Monday is quickly gaining popularity in Canada and all Canadians can be part of it! Encourage your friends, family and local restaurants to go meatless on Monday. You can also get involved by contacting the campaign. Remember too that it’s easy to have a Meatless Monday no matter where you live! Sign up for the Meatless Monday pledge to improve both your health and that of the planet!

There seems to be a lot of chatter lately about the nutritional value of meatless meals. While some agree limiting meat is a healthy choice, others worry that plant-based fare won’t provide adequate protein. Truth is, by having a Meatless Monday, you not only are nourishing your body with sufficient and diverse protein sources, you’re taking strides toward better health.

During a recent USDA press conference, a reporter asked the U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack how he felt about Meatless Monday in Baltimore City Public Schools:

Mr. Secretary, I was wondering if it bothered you… that school districts like Baltimore, Maryland institute Meatless Mondays… not letting the children have protein in the diet by doing that.

The misconception that meat is the only source of protein is a common one. But in truth, protein can be adequately obtained from beans, nuts, whole grains and vegetables. In most parts of the world meat isn’t the primary source of protein in the average diet. Indeed, globally, only 30% of protein is derived from animal sources!

Dr. Marion Nestle, a nationally renowned food expert and professor of nutrition, food studies and public health at New York University, agrees that a proper nutritional balance can be easily obtained through plant-based meals:

All proteins are made up of the same amino acids. ALL. No exceptions. The difference between animal and vegetable proteins is in the content of certain amino acids. If vegetable proteins are mixed, the differences get made up. Even if they aren’t mixed, all you need to do to get the right amount of low amino acids is to eat more of that food. There is no “need” for animal proteins at all.

Melissa Mahoney, the dietician responsible for the nutrition of the Baltimore City Public Schools, selected Meatless Monday as a positive way to introduce healthy options to the students she serves. Each Meatless Monday meal provides more protein than the USDA requires. The menu consists of beans, milk, grains and a wide variety of fruits and vegetables, ensuring that the students “don’t lose out on a single gram.”

Further, the children who attend Baltimore City Public Schools are learning the value of a varied diet firsthand. Not only do they enjoy a multitude of options in the cafeteria, they discuss nutrition in their science and health classes. According to The Atlantic, “…in the elementary and middle school grades, teachers are talking about Meatless Monday in relation to the food pyramid.” The diverse program developed there ensures the student body will be capable of making nutritionally sound choices as they move into adulthood.

You too can explore the limitless possibilities of plant-based protein! Here is just a short list of protein sources you can enjoy this Meatless Monday, complete with a recipe to get you started:

Peanut Butter- 4 grams per tbsp
Peanut Banana Pudding

Broccoli- 4 grams in 1 cup
Eastern Vegetable Noodle Soup

Soymilk- 7 grams in 1 cup
Pumpkin Spice Pancakes

Tofu- 11 grams in 5 oz
Spinach Tofu Curry

Lentils- 18 grams in 1 cup
Lentil Shepherd’s Pie

You may be surprised to learn the culinary potential of the pumpkin goes way beyond a can of pumpkin pie mix. Underused in American cooking, this nutritional powerhouse is revered for its leaves, seeds and roasted flesh in other countries. A member of the gourd family, pumpkins are packed with dietary fiber, potassium and vitamins A, B and C. With so many nutrients and very few calories, it’s no wonder Jack O’ Lantern can’t stop grinning!

Carving pumpkins wasn’t a Halloween tradition until the 20th century, but the fall harvest has traditionally been the season to celebrate the pumpkin. This year, make full use of the pumpkin and put its leaves in pasta sauce or fry the flesh to cook up some pumpkin tempura. The Thai often steam custard inside of a pumpkin, so take a tip from Thailand and use a hallowed out pumpkin as an innovative serving dish.

When cooking with pumpkin, remember that canned pumpkin puree can be a good time-saver if you’re in a hurry. But cooking your own lowers sodium content — and gives your dish a nice roasted flavor. To make your own puree, cut a pumpkin in half, scoop out the seeds and roast, cut side down, in a 400 degree oven for 50-60 minutes. Remember to save the seeds. Soaking them in water for a few minutes will release any excess pumpkin pulp, then toasting them with a sprinkling of salt and olive oil will ensure a tasty snack. Pumpkin seeds have been used to treat anxiety and 1 gram of the pumpkin seed protein contains more tryptophan than a full glass of milk. Hand them out this Halloween and see the grins of the trick-or-treaters light up like Jack-O-Lanterns.

The Baltimore City Public School system is about to become the first fully Meatless Monday school system in the U.S. They’re joining a growing international movement of individuals, organizations, communities and cities making the commitment to lower meat consumption and enjoy a plant-based diet on Mondays.

The 80,000 young people BCPS serves will begin each week with a Meatless Monday menu. And that’s not all. The school system has introduced a wide variety of projects to ensure its students eat and learn about healthy, environmentally friendly choices. BCPS has teemed up with local farmers and distributors to provide students fresh, locally raised fruits, vegetables and milk. They’ve also introduced Great Kids Farm, a 33-acre teaching farm, home to chickens, goats and a variety of fruits and vegetables. Educators on the farm teach kids and adults how to produce home-grown fresh food, even in an urban setting. BCPS is also in the process of developing gardens for each of the system’s 200 schools.

We at Meatless Monday hope the example BCPS is setting will help inspire the nation and serve as a model to transform school food systems coast to coast. Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future shares our hope. That’s why they’ve chosen to honor BCPS with the annual CLF Award. The CLF Award is given to individuals and groups that strive to advance our understanding of the complex relationship between humans and the environment. BCPS has earned this award by fostering a positive relationship between children, the food they eat and their surroundings.

We at Meatless Monday would like to extend our sincerest congratulations and thanks to BCPS for their dedication to children’s nutrition and education.

The CLF Award will be presented on Tuesday, September 29th at Great Kids Farm.

The beginning of autumn marks the point when many of our favorite fruits and vegetables are ripe for the picking. This year, harvest has become a national affair. Michelle Obama’s famed White House garden is in bloom and ready to offer its bounty to a country hungry for nutritional guidance. Food columnist and author Mark Bittman recently journeyed to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue to discover what the Obamas can teach us about healthful eating.

The White House garden contains about 60 different kinds of fruits, vegetables and herbs. So far this year it has yielded over 400 pounds of fresh produce for the First Family and a community soup kitchen. According to Bittman, the garden will be a sustainable food source for years to come. “With proper tending, this garden will continue to produce food infinitely, without causing a negative impact on the environment.” The White House garden fits the Meatless Monday philosophy that food should be fresh, nutritious, sustainable and available to everyone.

Sam Kass is in charge of ensuring that the White House harvest is well cared for, both outside and in the kitchen. He is the White House assistant chef and food-incentive coordinator. Kass is an advocate for healthier eating who believes that simple, whole ingredients make for flavorful, satisfying meals. He feels that “the responsibility of all chefs, of all people who cook, is the care and well-being of the people they’re feeding.”

Kass is the ideal nutrition spokesman for the Obama administration, which hopes to serve the American public in a similar fashion. According to Melody Barnes, the president’s domestic-policy advisor, “the president has principals for what he wants to achieve, such as setting a higher standard for nutrition, putting more fruits and vegetables on Americans’ tables, making sure kids receive nutritious foods at school, and so on… Our goal now is to fully formulate those principals so that next year we’ll be ready to properly engage with Congress on legislation.” The Obamas hope that the White House garden demonstrates their commitment to America’s health and sets an example that the nation can live by.

Now that we have received an in-depth look at the First Family’s food philosophy, one nagging question remains: what do the Obamas actually eat? The White House’s executive chef noted that the Obamas eat at home “at least five days a week” and enjoy balanced, fresh meals that are grilled or simply prepared with olive oil and light salt and pepper. The Obamas also focus on their fruits and veggies and take full advantage of their backyard garden.

Experience our nation’s bounty this harvest season by making fresh produce the star of every meal. The occasional meatless dish allows you to fully experience the flavors of autumn while helping our country’s struggle with climate change. Watch the Meatless Monday video to learn how cutting meat one day a week fits with President Obama’s goals of positive change and nutritional awareness.

I haven’t got much in common with Whitney Houston; I’m not tall or thin, and I can’t belt out show-stoppers. Oh, and I’m white. But, like Whitney, I believe that children are our future. We all agree — whatever size, shape or color we may be — that it’s in everyone’s interests to feed our children well.

“Good nutrition is essential to good learning,” as President Lyndon B. Johnson stated when he signed the Child Nutrition Act into law in 1966.

Kids need fresh, wholesome, nutrient-dense foods to ensure proper brain development; talk about a no-brainer! You can’t nourish children on a steady diet of processed foods full of fatty, empty carbs and sugary soda or juice.

And yet, we’ve been trying to do just that for the past few decades. Heat ‘n’ serve convenience foods have replaced made-from-scratch meals in cafeterias and kitchens all over the country. As Michael Pollan points out in Food, Inc., “the way we eat has changed more in the last 50 years than in the previous 10,000.”

The result? Obesity rates among children have doubled in the last 10 years and tripled for adolescents, according to onetray.org, a national campaign dedicated to promoting “more healthful, more sustainably produced and regionally sourced school food that can improve the health of kids, develop new marketing opportunities for farmers, and support the local economy.” Sounds like a win-win-win to me.

We know that fruits and vegetables are packed with all kinds of nutrients and fiber and other key ingredients that keep us healthy. And yet, only 2% of children get enough fruits and vegetables to meet the USDA’s Food Guide
Pyramid serving recommendations. An entire generation is missing out on the pleasures of home-cooked meals made with freshly harvested foods.

But there’s a growing movement to reclaim our food chain and give our children the tools they need to achieve kitchen literacy. It begins with feeding them real food, but it doesn’t stop there; programs are flourishing all over the country dedicated to teaching kids how to grow food and cook it, too.

Campaigns like One Tray At A Time and Slow Food’s Time For Lunch are galvanizing support for better school food.
Chef Ann Cooper, the “renegade lunch lady,” has launched a new website, The Lunch Box, whose motto is “healthy tools to help all schools”. Family Cook Productions, has been a pioneer in the development of programs that provide families, schools, and corporations with the skills to “bring families together around delicious, fresh food”. Lynn Fredericks, the founder of Family Cook Productions, is also the author of Cooking Time Is Family Time: Cooking Together, Eating Together, and Spending Time Together, an ahead-of-its-time guide that shows parents how to make mealtime a fun, family-centered activity that kids of all ages can participate in.

Meatless Monday is getting ready to launch its own contribution to this real food renaissance, Kids Cook Monday. We’ll be featuring kid- friendly recipes, how-to videos, materials for teachers, and other resources to inspire kids and parents everywhere to start each week off by make eating right a family night.

By Kerry Trueman

Dawn Jackson Blatner, a registered dietitian, considered herself a vegetarian. Her diet consisted almost entirely of plant-based foods, but she didn’t want to deprive herself of the occasional hamburger at a back yard barbeque or her favorite family recipes. Rather than remain a “closet meat-eater”, Dawn redefined her habits. She embraced the term “flexitarian” or, “flexible vegetarian”, and began sharing her lifestyle with her clients. Blatner’s book, The Flexitarian Diet, shows readers that they can achieve the health benefits of vegetarianism without having to give up their favorite meals.

Decreasing the amount of meat in your diet can have a variety of positive health benefits. A recent study published in The New York Times found a direct correlation between the amount of meat individuals ate and their life expectancy. In The Flexitarian Diet, Blatner adds that those who eat a semi-vegetarian diet have a lower risk of heart disease, diabetes and cancer. Vegetarians also weigh 15 percent less than non-vegetarians on average. Blatner encourages us all to take steps towards improved health and fitness by reducing our meat consumption slowly and making dietary changes part of our normal routine.

The Flexitarian Diet also offers tips and recipes that make it easy to choose healthy, meatless meals. The book contains five weeks’ worth of easy-to-make recipes, many of which offer the option to “flex swap” plant-based ingredients for meat or dairy. Blatner also provides cooking tips on a variety of produce, beans, nuts and meat substitutes.

Dawn encourages breaking away from the monotony of the standard American diet by trying new ingredients alongside familiar favorites. We at Healthy Monday couldn’t agree more! Healthy, plant-based meals can be an opportunity to experience wonderful new foods and flavors. The Flexitarian Diet shows us how to gradually add variety to the table, without asking us to give up the comfort foods we have grown to love. Start on your own flexitarian diet this week with a Meatless Monday and this easy recipe for Spicy Breakfast Burritos!

The day Julia Child flipped her potato pancake onto the stove on her live show The French Chef was a key moment in culinary history. It reminded viewers that mistakes happen; it took some of the fear out of cooking. In this summer’s box office hit Julie and Julia, Meryl Streep plays Child and muses after the faux-pas, “I didn’t have the courage to do it the way I should have.” Healthy Monday, on surveying the current crop of cooking shows, wonders whether they have Julia’s courage – not just to teach us how to cook, but in a new era of food awareness, how to cook mindfully and healthfully.

Best-selling food author Michael Pollan, a big supporter of Meatless Monday, points out that Americans now spend an average of 27 minutes cooking per day, less than half that of Julia Child’s era. People today are cooking less but – witness the rise of The Food Network – are actually watching cooking shows more! Here’s a key qualifier, though: these “cooking shows” are not much more than “food entertainment.” They value effect over end product, efficiency over quality, time-saving tips over detailed instruction.

Child’s The French Chef, which ran from 1963-1973, aired unedited and showcased not just Julia’s recipes and techniques – the flips and the flops – but her famous passion for food and chiefly joie de vivre. Today’s hyper-slick cooking shows like Top Chef and Iron Chef America, by comparison, are more about competition than preparing real food in an actual kitchen. And the Rachel Rays and Emeril Lagasses, while they proffer recipes and tips, seem more interested in furthering their brand (and their products).

The good news is, there has been a slowly building backlash. Just as celebrity chefs on television have become more removed from their audiences, viewers are seeking out new outlets and talent for guidance and inspiration. And the short attention spans that spawned (or were spawned by) the mega-hit cooking shows have resulted in a demand for immediate interactivity. Enter the Internet age – where both budding and accomplished cooks are turning to websites, blogs and YouTube for practical advice and demonstrations, and “less-packaged” food advisers. They are searching for their own Julia, in an instant.

Meatless Monday’s very own video blogger Kinzie, like the character Julie Powell in Julie and Julia, transformed her passion for cooking into something that can help others. Both women joined the food blogosphere, creating articles, recipes and video they send out over the Internet for anyone to use, and receiving feedback, praise and popularity in return – not the mention of satisfaction of sharing something they love.

“Cooking can be a little overwhelming,” says Kinzie. “Taking people out of their comfort zone, and asking them to prepare a meatless meal can seem daunting. I want to help change that in my small way.”

Everyone here at Healthy Monday feels the same. By preparing the food you eat, when it’s your force behind the knife, or your hands in the dough, you develop a deeper understanding of what you’re eating. You tend to think more about the health consequences – good and bad – of what you’re eating.

So this Monday, have the courage to step away from the TV, explore cooking videos online and give a new meatless recipe a try. Let the plethora of cooking resources excite you to embark on a new cooking adventure. In the time-honored words of Julia Child: “Do not be afraid!”

Here are a few must-see blogs that demonstrate the range of bounty:

Depression Cooking with Clara is full of 93 year-old Clara Cannucciari’s recipes and childhood memories from the Great Depression.

Rockin’ The Stove, with Chef Shirle combines a love of food with a kick @#$% sensibility.

Crash Test Kitchen captures two Aussie’s in a kitchen making food and making mistakes.

And don’t forget to check out Meatless Monday’s own Kinzie!

Here at Healthy Monday, we’re deeply committed to supporting people and organization working to improve personal health around the country. This Monday we highlight The Veggie Grill, well known in Southern California for serving classic American comfort food. Their menu includes such favorites as BBQ Wings, Chicken Caesar Wraps and Carne Asada. It’s what The Veggie Grill doesn’t serve, however, that makes them stand out. Everything they prepare is completely meat and dairy free.

In a world awash in fast food joints and extravagantly unhealthy eateries, The Veggie Grill signifies a sea change. Here is a restaurant serving comfort food targeted to the widest possible American demographic and there is no meat or dairy in sight. But how do they do it?

The Veggie Grill uses tempeh and wheat meat (textured wheat protein) as the base for their meatless meals. Both blends have a meat-like consistency that is easily infused with a variety of marinades and flavors. These mock meats are so close in texture and taste to the real thing that customers don’t even realize they’re eating vegetarian food. According to Kevin Boylan, co-founder of The Veggie Grill, 90% of the eatery’s patrons consume meat on a regular basis. They come for the healthful food, and the taste.

Walk into one of The Veggie Grill’s three locations and you’ll be greeted with bright, modern décor. Orders are taken at a walk-up counter and delivered quickly to your table. Indeed, the restaurant shatters consumer expectations by offering healthy, plant-based food prepared fast and always delicious.

We love that The Veggie Grill is making meatless meals everyone can enjoy! Their menu is free of cholesterol, trans-fat, animal fat and high fructose corn syrup. We believe they’re operating at the vanguard, helping to reshape the face of fast food – signaling a shift we hope will gain momentum across the country. If you’re lucky enough to live in Southern California, we encourage you to try The Veggie Grill. If not, you can make similar mock meat dishes at home. On MeatlessMonday.com you’ll find a Tempeh Chicken Salad that is remarkably meaty. Plus, the Philly Cheesefake is sure to trick your taste buds!