Unless you’re Joey Chestnut, you probably didn’t eat 68 hot dogs this past weekend, but maybe you ate more meat than you usually do. It is estimated that Americans eat 150 million hot dogs on July 4th, not to mention the amount of burgers, chicken and pork cooked over an open flame. That contributes to the estimated 200 pounds of meat the average U.S. resident eats per year. Americans eat more meat than any country in the world and research indicates that meat consumption is one of the biggest contributors to global warming. The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization has estimated that meat production accounts for nearly one fifth of global greenhouse gas emissions. Feeling guilty about going back for that second burger on Saturday?

If you’ve been trying to live greener but aren’t quite prepared to give up meat entirely, a great alternative would be to participate in Meatless Monday. Meatless Monday is a national movement in association with the Johns Hopkins’ Bloomberg School of Public Health. The goal is to help reduce meat consumption by 15% in order to improve health and save resources like fresh water and fossil fuel.

Although new to some, Meatless Monday is not a new concept. Introduced during World War I, the United States Food and Drug Administration urged families to observe Meatless Monday to help support U.S. troops and feed people in Europe where war was disrupting the production and distribution of food. Today Meatless Monday educates people on the health and environmental benefits of giving up meat at least once a week.

While many Americans might think of giving up meat entirely as too much of a personal sacrifice, giving up meat once a week, would be relatively easy (American Catholics are already used to doing it on Fridays during lent) and the impact of all Americans giving up meat once a week would be very significant. According to Environmental Defense, if every American skipped one meal of chicken per week and substituted vegetarian foods instead, it would be the equivalent of taking more than 500,000 cars off of U.S. roads.

Eating less meat is not only better for the environment and your heath, it’s also better for your wallet. Take a look at your last grocery store receipt. If you bought meat, chances are it was one of the most expensive items you purchased.

Going meatless at least once a week is a small change you can make to your lifestyle that can have lasting impacts on the environment and is a simple step you can take to start living greener. Read this post while eating a burger or chicken sandwich? Try a meatless day tomorrow.

For more information about Meatless Monday, visit:
http://www.meatlessmonday.com
http://lowfatcooking.about.com/od/healthandfitness/a/meatlessmonday.htm

For meatless recipes check out:
http://www.meatlessmonday.com/category/recipes-by-week

For stats and information on the environmental benefits of giving up meat visit:
http://fooddemocracy.wordpress.com/2009/04/22/give-up-meat-and-save-the-earth

For information about the dangers of excessive red meat consumption, check out:
http://www.forbes.com/2009/03/24/eating-red-meat-lifestyle-health-red-meat-study.html