I've already done a post on my stuffed pepper recipe so I'll be brief in respect to the peppers. I had mentioned that this is a good and easy appetizer dish, so when the opportunity to make this for a group I seized it. My lab group had a World Series watch party/potluck for the 4th game, and I made the hummus/spinach/sun-dried tomato stuffed peppers pictured above for it. I decided to make this recipe, not only because they are easy and yummy, but also because this recipe is both vegan and gluten free. There are several people in the lab group of have dietary restrictions and I wanted to make sure I could bring something that everyone could enjoy. Due to the fact that the recipe part of this post is rather short, I thought that this would be a good opportunity to talk about my flexitarianism. The rest of this post is to explain why I don't eat red meat. If you're uninterested feel free to skip. I tend to get a lot of questions (and snide comments) about my choice, so I thought I try to explain it in a helpful manner here.
For those who don't know, flexitartianism is defined (according to wikipedia) as a vegetarian who eats meat sometimes.
When I first arrived on Wash U's campus my freshman year I was much more in control of my diet than I had ever been before in my life. Our Dining Services is awesome, and we are not at all limited by choices so it was really up to me to decide what I was eating everyday. What I ended up doing (somewhat unconsciously at first) was cutting all red meat, and most chicken, out of my diet. This was partly due to the fact that I don't really love red meat and also that there are so many vegetarian options here that I found my meatless choices expanded rather than limited.
As this dietary change was gradually taking place, I also began my first semester in the Green Events Commission. A student group that provides free environmental consulting services to other student groups. We meet with students and suggest ideas of how they can make their events more sustainable. One of the first things that I learned in the GEC is that when trying to reduce carbon footprint, vegetarian is the way to go. I learned that a huge amount of energy (fossil fuels) and resources (water and land) go into raising and shipping food, and a really good way to cut back on fossil fuel usage is to be a conscientious consumer. There are many factors that go into making this hierarchy.
Firstly, is simple ecology. Energy enters an ecosystem at the level of primary producers. It then travels up trophic levels as organisms eat other organisms. Unfortunately due to metabolism, 90% of energy is lost every time you go up a trophic level (see below). So thinking about this in terms of the human/farm food chain. A person gets 10% of the energy that a ear of corn gained from photosynthesis. However, if we move humans up one level in the food chain by having them eat a steak instead of corn, then they are getting only 10% of the energy of the cow, which only had 10% of the energy from the grass it ate. So ultimately the human is getting only 1% of the energy originally input into the system from photosynthesis. Using this basic model you can see that energy wise it is more efficient to eat lower on the food pyramid.
http://www.oocities.org/rjwarren_stm/2P4/EnergyPyramid.html
When you also take into account that in America's system of agriculture every product takes fossil fuels to raise, in the form of transportation and energy costs, and that, in order to eat meat in our system, fossil fuels are required to grow and ship the feed to the animals who will consume it, and then to ship the meat to stores, it takes more energy to produce meat than vegetables. Hence, red meat has a greater carbon footprint.
Now there are always exceptions. Locally sourced, sustainably produced meat has a significantly lower carbon footprint than typical industry meat. And the level of impact of fish is subject to a lot of variability based on the species, fishing methods, and farm-raised or wild caught. So generally its hard to know about fish unless you know exactly where it comes from. But the general rule is that red meat has the largest impact, then poultry, then vegetables.
When I learned this I took a step back, and evaluated my own habits. I noticed that I was pretty much cutting out red meat already, and it wouldn't be to hard to cut back on poultry as well. So I decided to make a dietary change. I started out eating no red meat and chicken every other day. Since then, I've changed to eating poultry once a week. This change placed my diet into the realm that is Flexitarian.
My reasoning behind making this change is it is my own personal way to reduce my carbon footprint. I believe the term is Environmental Vegetarianism. And hopefully you can see by the content of this blog that it has not detracted from my enjoyment of food in any way. It's a lifestyle choice that I made, and though one I can recommend, one that I wouldn't unwillingly force onto anyone else who did not chose it.
When I mention my flexitarianism to someone I get a variety of reactions. They range from interest, to skepticism, to outright mocking. I have found that sometimes people tend to take dietary choices as an affront to whatever their own dietary lifestyle is. It makes me a little sad. Because my choice to reduce my own meat intake, is a personal one, not a judgement on someone else. Most people who have an voluntary alternate dietary lifestyle do it for personal reasons, whether they be religious, animal rights related, economically related, health related or environmental. Therefore, as long as they are not openly insulting your own diet the first response should be to respect their values, not to be judgmental. And if you have a voluntary vegetarian or vegan diet, be conscientious that others' dietary choices are their own personal decisions as well.
I also meet a lot of people who are genuinely curious about what a flexitarian is. And a lot of time I get some really intelligent follow up questions. I do my best to answer them in my own context, and to let those questions help me define and redefine what choices follow my values. For example, I had a friend ask me if there was a small farm that grew its own feed sustainably, fed it to cows sustainably, and then sold the meat locally would I eat it? I thought about it, and yes, I would. I identify as a
flexitarian. I'm flexible. I set my dietary constraints by my own values, and if circumstance changes, then my diet will be able to as well.
So instead of suggesting that everyone who reads this rather long post reduce their meat consumption, I will instead leave you with this. Choose one thing about your lifestyle, and make a small change to be more sustainable. It doesn't have to be something big, it could be bringing reusable bags with you when you shop, or biking to work once a week, all that matters is that it matters to you. Make a small contribution to leave a slightly better world behind. I'm a big believer that the small everyday things do matter, and that over the long term they do add up. My flexitarianism is my little addition to a more sustainable tomorrow.
