Paul McCartney Releases "The Meat Free Monday Cookbook"

Paul McCartney said "If slaughterhouses had glass walls, everyone would be vegetarian"

In October 2011 Paul McCarty's new cookbook was released in the UK and it should be available in the US in early 2012.

The full book title is "The Meat Free Monday Cookbook: A Full Menu for Every Monday of the Year" and the authors are Annie Riggs and Paul, Stella & Mary McCartney. You can pre-order it on Amazon.com and it may available on ebay as well.

In addition to using this cookbook to create great meals for you and your family, it may encourage folks around the world to join the Meat Free Monday Campaign which invites people to eat meatless meals one day a week in order to improve their own health as well as the health of the planet. I hope you will discover some useful ways to incorporate Meat Free Mondays into your life if you decide to try it.

This 240-page hard cover cookbook has over 300 recipes from McCartney family members, as well as other celebrities. Some of the recipes include butter, eggs and cheese, so not all recipes are vegan (free of dairy products). Paul McCartney and his daughters wrote the Foreward for the book.

From Amazon: "Packed with recipes such as Spiced Pumpkin Pancakes, Basil and Mushroom Tart, Pilau Rice with Cashews and Watermelon Granita, as well as vibrant spring soups, inventive summer salads, appetizing autumn bakes and comforting winter stews."

Generally speaking, when you eat less meat you improve your health, you improve the health of the planet and you improve the welfare of animals.

BETTER FOR YOUR HEALTH

Going meatless even just one day a week could improve your health against chronic diseases such as diabetes, stroke and heart disease. Research indicates that eating large amounts of red meat and processed meats could increase a person's risk of getting type 2 diabetes. Whereas, eating more beans gives you more fiber which is good for your health. It may prevent long term weight gain as well.

BETTER FOR THE HEALTH OF THE PLANET

Many aspects of factory farming have a detrimental impact on the environment. It is a leading cause of global warming. It can lead to overly exploited natural resources such as deforestation of land and contamination of water. A large amount of fossil fuel and water are used in order to produce meat. According to the EPA, runoff from factory farms pollutes rivers and lakes more than all other types of industrial pollution combined.

BETTER FOR THE WELFARE OF ANIMALS

Deplorable conditions of neglect and abuse have been well documented in the factory farming industry. Its so painful, that often people will avoid thinking about it. But that is how the mistreatment continues. And also because the animal welfare laws that protect your pets, may not apply to livestock. In many cases the hurtful acts that are committed against these animals are not even illegal.

According to meatlessmondays.com, studies show that periodic health prompts can lead to positive behavior change and since Monday is the beginning of a new week, its a good time for folks to reevaluate their choices and to set their intentions for the coming week. It starts your week off in a nutritious way. Vist their website for

• Free recipes and also "video recipes" that demonstrate the actual food preparation process
• Get free Toolkits like "Introducing Meatless Monday" and "Meatless Monday Goes to College" that give you resources to support a meatless diet
• Free resources to spread the word like posters, graphics and a recipe widget
• Learn the nutritional benefits of eating meatless meals

I predict that in the recipes included in the Meat Free Monday Cookbook you will find many tasty ingredients that are used in place of meat. If you want to use non-meat products in your recipes at home, here are some suggestions.

SOY PRODUCTS - Made from the soy bean, also called edamame, this includes tofu which you can use to create your own homemade meals as well as many prepackaged food products. Soy is popular with vegans (people who don't eat animal flesh) because it provides protein. Many consider soy products to be a good source of complete protein, including essemtial amounts of vitamins and minerals, like amino acids.

PREPACKAGED MEAT ALTERNATIVES - Most grocery stores these days carry a variety of name brands such as Gardenburger, Morningstar Farms, Veggie Patch, Gardein, Boca Burger and Lightlife. If they don't have something you want, just let the store manager know and usually they will stock it for you. Most of these brands have websites where you join their online community to get things like free video cooking demonstrations, free recipes, store coupons and meal planning guides. These products come in a variety of convenient packaging like frozen, refrigerated or regular pantry stock items. And the variety of the recipes is getting bigger every day. Everything from burgers to gourmet products.

If you do switch to these products, even just for one day a week, you may feel better and lose weight. This might be because you will be skipping some of the fat, hormones, calories and antibiotics that are found in some regular meat products. As well, you may get more fiber and nutrition from adding more plant-based items to your diet. This depends on your specific diet as some meatless foods can still be high in calories and additives. To learn more about the nutritional value of meatless products read this article from Morningstar Farms.

More restaurants are offering meat free choices on their menu than ever before. Many already have a veggie burger available. Take a close look at the menu next time you're out, especially if its Monday because some restaurants are participating in the Meatless Monday Campaign by specifically offering a variety of meatless options on Mondays and they may write "MM" on their menu items to indicate that they are meatless. Some places that usually offer good options include:

• Maoz Vegetarian get coupon
• Moes Southwest Grill
• Sweet Tomatoes (they clearly mark meat free items in their buffet)
• COSI (they mark their menu to show meatless items)
• Pita's Republic (order soy riblet instead of regular meat on your wrap)
• Subway (order the toasted veggie patty)
• EVOS (they clearly mark meat free items)
• Panchero's Mexican Grill (order grilled veggies instead of regular meat)
• Little Caesar's (crust and sauce is vegetarian, so just don't add meat toppings)
• Tiajuana Flats (build a fresh taco or salad, just skip the meat toppings)
• Starbucks (some meat free panini sandwiches)

Royalties from The Meat Free Monday Cookbook will go directly to the Meat Free Monday campaign which was founded by Paul McCartney and his daughters, Mary and Stella. The purpose of the campaign is to have people reduce their meat intake one day a week in order to reduce the envirionmental impact associated with the meat industry.

According to the Meat-Free Mondays website, if the average household were to cut their meat intake in half, it would reduce emissions more than if they cut their car usage in half. Many people are surprised to learn that factory farming is responsible for producing about 1/5th of the total man-made greenhouse gas emissions, far more than transportation. An estimated 2,000 gallons of water are go into the process of making a single pound of beef because it is used to water the livestock. Other ways that livestock production damages the environment are animal waste, antibiotics, hormones, and fertilizers and pesticides sprayed on the crops that the animals eat. These things can damage water ecosystems and the surrounding environment.

Rain forests are cut down to make room for grazing cattle (and for growing crops to feed the cattle) in the Amazon. Raising animals for food is very inefficient because it takes large amounts of grain, oats and corn to geed the animals. Those same foods could be eaten directly by humans which would decrease the negative impact on the planet and its natural resources.

This combination of climate change and dwindling natural resources will have an impact on food supplies in the coming decades. While some people will continue to eat meat despite the high cost of producing it, other people are expected to run out of food and possibly even to die of starvation. Progress is possible if we take better care of ourselves and our planet's natural resources.

Meatless Mondays can help in so many ways. Many believe it can help in the fight to end world hunger, it can decrease the suffering of animals, and it can improve the health of individuals.

Perhaps the reason Paul McCartney thinks people would stop eating meat if slaughter houses had glass walls, is because the only way people are able to eat meat is because they make themselves blind to the harsh cruelties of factory farming as well as to the unhealthy side effects it could create in their bodies and the negative impact it has on the environment.

Paul McCartney and the members of his family founded the Meat Free Monday campaign and have been active supporters of the benefits of meatless eating for a long time. If you want to support their efforts I encourage you to buy their cookbook and to join the campaign.

Take the online pledge to join Meatless Mondays at www.meatlessmondays.com