Meatless March – Time to replace the pork on your fork!

This month is all about going meat free and when we say meat free we mean 100% plant-based!!! The challenge has been set to replace the pork on your fork with something plant based. How do you think you will hold up for a whole month?

Australians are amongst the biggest meat eaters in the world per capita. With an average consumption of almost 120kg per person per annum, according to a report released by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, we eat almost three times as much meat as the world average.

This month is not so much about giving up meat ‘cold turkey’ but more cutting back for a short amount of time, introducing more animal friendly meals to your diet and when you do (if) go back to eating meat, hopefully you start to consume meat that is ethically produced.

We need to be more connected with food; our disassociation with the sourcing of our food, in particular our meat has seen factory farming production grow at an alarming rate. Over a year, it is estimated that almost 9 million cattle, 13 million sheep, 20 million lambs, 6 million pigs and over half a billion chickens are killed for meat. This is all for our population of 22.8 million, eek.

Why get involved in Meatless March? This month is about thinking more about where your food comes from, namely the meat you consume on a daily basis and how much you are eating, where it is sourced and the affects over consumption has on your health.

Three important steps to make this month happen are:

• Starting
• Planning
• Stocking

STARTING

Don’t be overwhelmed by this decision to go meatless, habits always take a while to find their groove but do them long enough and that habit does become exactly that, a habit.

PLANNING

“Most people don’t plan to fail, they fail to plan.” John L Beckley. With every change you adopt in your life you do so with planning and this is no different when it comes to making changes to your food habits.

If you continue to shop and buy the way you always have, how is change going to happen? For changes to happen in our habits, you need to be mindful of making those changes so you need to start planning.

Have you asked yourself lately?

• Where do I currently shop and what are the ethics of that establishment?
• Has my food been raised in an environment where the animals have adequate shelter, water and room to graze?
• What impact do my food choices have on the environment and is the current process sustainable long term?
• Health wise, are my food choices reducing my risk of disease such as bowel cancer, type 2-diabetes, heart disease, high cholesterol, obesity and in turn reducing my life expectancy?

Being asked those questions can be quite confronting. We don’t mean to make you uncomfortable but its important we are more mindful about our choices and the reality that these choices have on animal welfare, the environment and our health.

We know these are BIG topics so lets start small in order not to scare you off, lets get back to our point – planning. So its Meatless March what do you have to do?

• Look inside your fridge & pantry, do you have animal free products in abundance?
• Will you need to shop at an alternative grocery store to provide Meatless staples?
• Support local farmers market where you know the food grown on a small scale with care & integrity?
• If eating out, do you need to look at the menu before hand to ensure there is something on there to eat?
• Should you cook more, make lunch and pre prepare dinner because you know you are always home late due to work & fitness commitments?

Perfect, these questions are certainly what you should be thinking about, writing down and putting into action. You are now becoming more mindful about your food choices and this is certainly a step in the right direction.

STOCKING

You only eat what you have stocked in the fridge and pantry so lets make sure its stocked well. We always say you are what you eat and if you look in our pantry we are organic, wholesome and a little nutty! Get the basics right and everything else will fall into place.

With you all the way

We are hear to support you for the month of March so connect with us on Instagram, Facebook at Twitter @tarianpantry