My MM: Natalie’s Meatless Monday Menu—And The USDA Gets Scolded By Beef Industry
Happy Monday, all. Here’s a yummy MM menu from Natalie in Toronto. We’re getting a little bit low on these, so please send yours!
Meanwhile, did you all hear about the scandal a few weeks back between the USDA and the beef industry?
The short of it is that the USDA put up an internal memo encouraging employees to take part in Meatless Monday as a way of reducing environmental impact, the beef people went ape sh*t, and the USDA cowered, saying later it was all a mistake because the memo was posted without “proper clearance.” You can read more about it in this LA Times piece, but here’s the reaction from the National Cattlemen’s Beef Assn. from that article:
The organization’s president J.D. Alexander stated that Meatless Monday is “an animal rights extremist campaign to ultimately end meat consumption” and that since the USDA’s mission is to promote U.S. farming, “this move by USDA should be condemned by anyone who believes agriculture is fundamental to sustaining life on this planet.”
Oy. With that bad taste in our mouths, let’s all get inspired by this menu, shall we?
Name: Natalie
Hometown: Toronto
My dietary leanings: Vegetarian since January 2007, vegan since October 2011.
My favorite vegetable: Brussels sprouts. Kale is a close second. What can I say? I like my cruciferous veggies!
This morning I ate…
My usual is a kale smoothie with berries, mango, avocado, banana, sprouted chia-flax seeds, almond milk, and some brown rice protein powder, and a slice of chia-flax toast with whatever nut butter strikes my fancy at the time. But since I played hooky from my Sunday grocery shopping, I revisited an old favourite breakfast using ingredients I had on hand: oatmeal with berries, almond milk, sprouted chia-flax seeds, brown rice protein powder, and Udo’s 3-6-9 blend with vegan DHA.
As a mid-morning snack, I had some Sunrise brand peach-mango dessert tofu.
Lunch was…
A quick and dirty fruit salad of kiwi, orange and apple slices, mixed berries, and raw pumpkin seeds.
As dinner time rolled around…
I was really looking forward to digging into some red quinoa and black bean salad. Post-grocery shopping, I made a slightly modified version of this Oh She Glows recipe, with corn, tomato, avocado, garlic, cilantro, lime, green and jalapeno peppers. It did not disappoint! Dessert was a leftover birthday cupcake–my mom makes a great vegan carrot cake with crushed pineapple–and some cherries.
Do you think Meatless Monday is extreme or not extreme enough? We’ve certainly heard both arguments!
Great menu Natalie! In terms of Meatless Mondays, I don’t think they are extreme in any way, shape or form. It’s just one day. Agriculture does not equal meat, so I’m not sure what the beef association meant by that. It’s actually a really silly thing for them to say and should make us all a little leery of really anything they have to say. You can’t bully someone into eating or not eating meat.
Meatless Mondays are a choice made by many and in no way should cause panic or ridiculing statements from those feeling threatened. This is starting to sound like the commercials promoting high fructose corn syrup and real milk – both industries felt threatened enough to criticize the educated masses who have looked elsewhere for healthy alternatives.
I don’t think Meatless Monday is extreme at all! I interpret the movement this way – no one is forcing us not to eat meat ever again, it is just a way for us to be aware of how much we consume, and make an effort to find other sources of protein in order to contribute to the sustainability of the planet.
Nice menu!
I hardly think one meat free day a week can be considered extreme. And right on Sandra, that meat does not equal agriculture. If you look at the way most meat animals are raised, it looks nothing like agricultural America of old. Maybe the beef people want us to envision a happy family farm where the plants and animals are all in harmony? That, sadly, is a very small part of what raising animals for meat looks like these days. I think for many (most?) people, meatless Mondays are at least as much about environmental issues as they are about the morality of eating animals (health too).
@Sandra, I think the meat companies are just distraught that suddenly they’re losing territory. After decades of inundating the American public with \beef, it’s what’s for dinner,\ \pork, the other white meat,\ and the general warping of how much protein is \needed\ at every meal…(and clearly it’s not possible to obtain protein without meat, cheese and eggs!!), the general public is finally starting to explore other ideas about nutrition. I hope it continues!
I live in California’s Central Valley where a USDA inspected slaughterhouse was recently closed due to animal abuse. A few days after the story made the news, three congressmen from the area wrote to the USDA asking to reopen the slaughterhouse because of high unemployment rates in the area. In their letter they refer to the people who went under cover to expose the abuse (in the form of videotapes) as “radicals” and “ecoterrorists trying to undermine agriculture.” If people choose to eat meat they need to be fully aware of where it comes from and how it makes it to their plates. Happy cows (as in the commercials presented to the public by the US dairy industry), I think not. Meatless Monday is not only a great way to support the ethical treatment of all animals, but it is also a great way to take back one’s health.
In the eyes of government regulations, Cattle are still considered agriculture-they use land, eat things grown on the land. Not every food animal is bred and killed in feedlots by villianous abusers. The picture of American agriculture is still very much the home town farmer and rancher. I know so since i was raised on a cattle ranch. They are grass fed, pure watered, hand tended to, and loved. The distress farmers are feeling is the import of food stuffs that are grown right here.
If you don’t want to eat meats for whatever reason (taste, texture, etc), then don’t eat it. Plain and simple. Don’t accuse the farmer of being some money hungry monster. Vegetarians/vegans could be called monster for the growing lust of quinoa. So much is being exported that the Chilean people, who subsisted on it for hundreds of years, are now malnutrished since all is sold.
In general, public needs to adopt a healthy amount of skepticism about all aspects of life. Visit a farm, try to grow a garden. Make educated opinions by your own experience, not whatever floats across the inetrent.
@B, I doubt anyone here would accuse an actual family farmer of being money hungry. But actual family farmers are increasingly rare, and feedlots are taking over. They already have, I think, I just don’t have the numbers on the top of my head. There are still family farmers, of course – I have cousins who own one and it’s quite something for a city girl like me to experience. When I buy meat for my family (I’m the only vegan) I buy sustainably and locally raised meat, for health reasons and to support this sustainable type of agriculture. Like Michael Pollan says, let’s get the animals back on the farms.