Eat Well for You and the Earth
Monday, June 28th, 2010Mother Earth is still alive and well, and no matter what you watch on television or hear on the radio, or read online, it is still lush with a salad bar full of life to give.
Salads remain one of the healthiest choices to nourish and satisfy in numerous ways. Not just a side salad from a fast-food place, but a modest “big-bowl” salad that contains legumes (beans), tomatoes (good for your heart and have helped fight free-radicals known to act as carcinogens), leafy-greens (that have iron, fiber, folic acid and much more), plus some tofu with marinade, or free-range chicken. Don’t forget other salad additions such as different lettuces other than the usual iceberg or romaine such as butter lettuce, or baby spinach and maybe some arugula. Recently though, arugula was deemed nearly as bad as beef in terms of the carbon footprint it bestows due to the shipping and growing procedures it requires when it is not in season. Overall, make sure to look for true organic items - they’ll display the farm of origin and won’t contain the pesticides or travel time that non-organic might.
Many metropolitan areas have cultures that tend to be healthier and modern-day, local demand requires that restaurants have alternatives to meat. Here in Los Angeles, there’s plenty of places that serve overly healthy meals such as raw foods, organic vegan eateries and many beef-free burgers. You can even use tempeh, and meatless-ground to create your own non-beef burger/ground at home, thus ensuring no extra hormones or antibiotics enter your holy temple - your body.
When it comes to eating healthy meats, the experts tell you that fish is a good bet at least twice a week. But with the fishing industry facing decreases in catches year after year, and overfishing becoming a real problem, it may not be a viable solution twice a week anymore. A recent documentary called The End of Line, brought to light the atrocities that industrial fishing has wreaked upon the oceans, making many species of aquatic life extinct while we ate blindly. The Environmental Defense Fund and the Monterey Bay Aquarium, have placed guides for eating fish online, that delineate between safe fish populations for consumption, the ills of fish farming on the environment, and what to look for when at the sushi restaurant.
When you eat well for you by researching the foods that are the best for mind, body and soul, you’ll notice that the rules apply for your surroundings too. If its organic or if its safe from overabundance, its good for our planet. Enjoy a good meal and enjoy life today.
Fried is not the way of the future.