Even Cartman is Going Plant Based - Living Smart Granola

“I thought you guys were all trying to force me to eat healthy, but I’ve learned that a lot of this stuff is made in a factory and processed with tons of salt just like all my favorite foods! SpaghettiOs, Rice-A-Roni. Here I was thinking what you wanted was stuff from a farmers market. I just didn’t want my food to change. School cafeteria meat is just processed crap that comes in a box, and this is just processed crap that comes in a box. I don’t have a problem with it. All I wanted was to be able to eat the same garbage I always have, and this is definitely garbage. And hey, if it happens to be more ethical and sustainable, well, I guess I’m fine with that, too.” ~Cartman

Health and Sustainability

Eating less meat is one of the absolute best things for climate change. Hard to dispute that with all the recent studies. Sucks for the cattle farmers, but it seems less cattle is what is required to add a small semblance of balance in the world. Time to change people, time to adapt.

We have heard it before, people are starting to do meatless Mondays. Heck, even South Park did an episode “Let them eat goo” this past week. Which was AMAZING. They broke it down so simply even Cartman, the glutton of all things junk food, was on board with eating plant based by the end. His final monologue said it all.

They just make plant based food taste so good these days, you really do not feel any deprivation. My husband loves meat, but he’s totally fine with a good veggie burger (key word there is “good veggie burger”) It seems like its pretty much a win-win here.

Now I am in no way saying to go full vegan, or full vegetarian. I am simply stating that you can switch up a meal here and there with a plant based protein and not be thinking “ugh this is a disgusting veggie burger”. I personally use the beyond meat crumbles all the time, in stir fries, tacos, burritos, etc. It has the texture of meat and totally satisfies that carnivore craving. The texture was something that was lacking for a long time, but they seem to be getting closer and closer to something that actually resembles meat!

So there is something to be said about processed plant based foods too. And obviously that is not ideal. Yes, much of it is overly processed and still completely over the top in the salt department. But no one is saying you have to eat those! The beauty of having tastier meat free options means that an untapped market of people can go plant based and still eat what they want to eat. They can have the greasy burger, that is sustainable (better for our world!) and delicious too. I will gladly have an impossible burger with my beer. Thank you very much.

Some benefits of going plant based. For the planet’s health and your own.

Save lives – The report found that “unhealthy diets are the largest global burden of disease,” having surpassed even tobacco use as the leading cause of death and disease worldwide. Eating more plants and fewer animal products could prevent 10.9 to 11.6 million premature deaths from heart disease, diabetes, and other chronic conditions every year, according to the researchers.
Alleviates hunger. The report found that more than 820 million people around the world lack sufficient food. It also noted that “almost two thirds of all soybeans, maize, barley, and about a third of all grains are used as feed for animals.”
Reduce the impacts of climate change. Food production is responsible for up to 30 percent of total greenhouse gas emissions, with animal products accounting for the vast majority, about three-quarters of these effects. Projections for the future show that “vegan and vegetarian diets were associated with the greatest reductions in greenhouse-gas emissions.”
Save water. Agriculture accounts for about 70 percent of freshwater use, making it “the world’s largest water-consuming sector.” Meat and dairy products lead the way in guzzling up large quantities of water. Producing a pound of beef requires 1,800 gallons of water. If Americans ate more beans and less beef, we would require 42 percent less cropland.

If Cartman is ok with going plant based, I believe anyone can do it.

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