Vegetarian and Vegan Recipes

According to an article in the New York Times, a plant-based diet is one of the best ways to reduce your carbon footprint.  58% of all greenhouse gas emissions from food production come from animal products. Of this 58%, half are from beef and lamb.

And it isn’t just carbon emissions that cause animal products to have a large environmental impact. It takes a lot of resources to feed livestock and process, package, and transport the products. The amount of water it takes to produce one pound of beef could hydrate the average American for 43 years.

You don’t have to go vegan to reduce your environmental impact--you don’t even have to completely cut meat out of your diet at all. In fact, if American families go vegetarian for one night a week, the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions would be equivalent to taking 30 to 40 million cars off the road for an entire year. 

This challenge is relevant to the current COVID-19 pandemic. Jane Goodall said the following about the pandemic: 
“It is our disregard for nature and our disrespect of the animals we should share the planet with that has caused this pandemic, that was predicted long ago. 
Because as we destroy, let's say the forest, the different species of animals in the forest are forced into a proximity and therefore diseases are being passed from one animal to another, and that second animal is then most likely to infect humans as it is forced into closer contact with humans. 
It's also the animals who are hunted for food, sold in markets in Africa or in the meat market for wild animals in Asia, especially China, and our intensive farms where we cruelly crowd together billions of animals around the world. These are the conditions that create an opportunity for the viruses to jump from animals across the species barrier to humans."

The Challenge
During the next two weeks, pick at least five meals to make vegetarian (if you eat meat) or vegan (if you’re already vegetarian). If you eat a plant-based diet all the time, share some of your favorite recipes using the hashtag #project5billion or tagging @project5billion/@p5billion. I’ll be featuring my favorite recipes!

Recipe Ideas
Vegan Chili
Breaded Cauliflower
​Vegan Chickpea Curry
​Teriyaki Vegetable Stir Fry
​Vegetarian Linguine
​Tomato, Basil, and Corn Pizza
​Kale and Chickpea Grain Bowl
​Vegan Lasagna

Sources
Albeck-Ripka, Livia. “How to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint.” The New York Times, The New York Times, www.nytimes.com/guides/year-of-living-better/how-to-reduce-your-carbon-footprint

Shalant, Jenny. “To Shrink Your Carbon Footprint, Ease Up on the Dairy.” NRDC, National Resources Defense Council, 5 Feb. 2020, www.nrdc.org/stories/shrink-your-carbon-footprint-ease-dairy.

​Stylianou, Nassos, et al. “Climate Change Food Calculator: What's Your Diet's Carbon Footprint?” BBC News, BBC, 9 Aug. 2019, www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-46459714.

Orjollet, Stéphane. “Jane Goodall Says 'Disrespect for Animals' Caused Pandemic.” Yahoo News, 11 Apr. 2020, news-yahoo-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/news.yahoo.com/amphtml/jane-goodall-says-disrespect-animals-caused-pandemic-091036641.html. ​