1) Your Pocket
A study published in the Journal of Hunger & Environmental Nutrition found that a vegetarian diet, when compared to a meat-eating diet, costs an average of approximately $750 less per year. But don’t just take the old “this study says so” word for it, look yourself. Next time you’re in the grocery store compare the cost of a package of Morningstar vegetarian chicken strips with an average package of real chicken strips – you’ll find that they’re about half the price. My husband and I eat close to 100% of our meals and snacks throughout the week from what we purchase on our weekly grocery trip. On average, to feed the two of us 3 meals per day plus snacks (and we snack) for 7 days, I spend $110 or less per week.
2) Your Peace of Mind
Pose a question to yourself. Look directly at the question and internalize it: If you were suddenly responsible for directly producing and processing all the food you eat, would it change what you eat?
Could you plant your vegetables and fruits? Could you water them, pick them, wash them, chop them, then eat them? Could you harvest your grains, break them down, process and bake them? Could you raise your animals, slaughter them, skin them, butcher them, cook them and eat them? Could you teach your children to do these things? How would they react? Why?
If you find yourself thinking no to that last one, ask yourself this follow up question and stay mindful of the thoughts that surface: why not?
3) Your Health
It’s official, Kaiser Permanente, one of the largest health insurance companies in the world, cites a plant-based diet as the healthiest way to eat in their nutritional update for physicians. How does Kaiser Permanente define a plant-based diet?
This eating plan includes lots of plant foods in their whole, unprocessed form, such as vegetables, fruits, beans, lentils, nuts, seeds, whole grains, and small amounts of healthy fats. It does not include animal products such as meat, poultry, fish, dairy, and eggs. It also does not include processed foods or sweets.
source: https://share.kaiserpermanente.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/The-Plant-Based-Diet-booklet.pdf
It’s powerful to see that a health insurance company has headed in this direction with their recommendations for optimal health considering that they incur costs when their members are unhealthy. Members adopting a plant-based diet helps Kaiser Permanente spend less money on claims.
Furthermore, according to the World Health Organization, it is also official that dietary factors relating to meat consumption account for at least 30% of all cancers in Western countries.
Additional health complications that can result from meat consumption include:
- Hardening of blood vessels
- Shortened lifespan
- Consumption of pathogens
- E.coli
- Increase in the risk of type 2 diabetes
- May increase the risk of Alzheimer’s
- Greatly increases the risk of colorectal cancer
- Consumption of harmful hormones
4) Your Future
The meat industry has a devastating environmental impact on the world. Here are a few key impacts, followed by a summary of the carbon footprint of each type of food.
- At least 51% of global greenhouse gas emissions are caused by animal agriculture, contributing greatly to climate change.
- It takes 20 times less land to feed a plant-based diet versus a meat-based diet. More than 90% of the Amazon rainforest land has been cleared since 1970 for grazing livestock.
For a positive, healthy future to be possible for us, our children, and our grandchildren, we must think beyond our immediate gratification. If we do not shift our global consciousness and change our ways, what will the world be like in the next 20 years? What will the world we leave behind for our loved ones be like?
The Plant-Based Kitchen 