Savvy Vegetarian Blog

news and opinion on vegetarian diet and nutrition, vegetarian lifestyle, green living, and environment

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Sun, 29 Jun 2008

It's Happening! The World Is Going Vegetarian!

Friends sent me links to the following three inspiring news stories from the last month. It doesn't surprise me that the world is going vegetarian, because it's crystal clear that massive meat consumption, mostly by developed countries such as the US, is horribly destructive and completely unsustainable.

Of course, a world wide trend toward plant based diet can't be built on three news items. But in the last two years, I've noticed an ever increasing number of stories like this in the news, and ever more frequent articles, books, blogs, etc. on going vegetarian. And much more main stream attention to vegetarian diet. So, I'm optimistic. Read on!

One Million Vow To Reduce Global Warming By Going Vegetarian

'More than one million people in Taiwan have pledged to help cut carbon emissions by being a vegetarian. Taiwan's population is about 23 million, and the one million vegetarians would reduce at least 1.5 million tons of carbon emissions in Taiwan in one year.'

'The Union of NoMeatNoHeat made the announcement during its anti-global warming drive. Many prominent politicians, such as the legislative speaker, the environment minister, and Taipei and Kaohsiung Mayors all pledged to become vegetarians.'

'The Union said 20 percent of the world's carbon emissions are created by the livestock industry, which is higher than the 15 to 18 percent produced by all the world's transportation vehicles.'

Copyright RTI Radio Taiwan International. Read the full article on 1,000,000 going veg.

Who Says You Have To Eat Meat To Be A Successful Athlete?

ESPN, "The Worldwide Leader in Sports" [Owned by Walt Disney Company], 6.17.08:

"Already we've seen a number of world-class athletes move toward vegan and vegetarian diets. NBA guard Salim Stoudamire, former NFLers Desmond Howard and Ricky Williams, track and field greats Carl Lewis and Edwin Moses and others have followed that path. Four other athletes who have made the switch to vegan or vegetarian diets recently shared their thoughts on these and other meaty issues tied to their choices. Here's what they had to say:"

Read this long, positive article from Jonah Keri on ESPN, about athletes going veg

Putting Meat Back In It's Place

Even the New York Times is getting into the act - as in this article by Mark Bittman on 6.11.08

'Let's suppose you've decided to eat less meat, or are considering it. And let's ignore your reasons for doing so. They may be economic, ethical, altruistic, nutritional or even irrational. The arguments for eating less meat are myriad and well-publicized, but at the moment they're irrelevant, because what I want to address here is (almost) purely pragmatic: How do you do it?'

'Reducing the meat habit can be done, and it doesn't have to make you crazy. Although there will undoubtedly be times you'll have cravings, they'll never give you the shakes. So, in no particular order, here are some suggestions to ease your path to eating less meat.'

If you're thinking about going veg, but not quite ready to go cold tofu, read author Mark Bittman's suggestions for reducing your meat habit