Jonathan Safran Foer’s new book Eating Animals is a thorough look at the ethical and environmental quandaries posed by America’s appetite for meat. His wish is to foster more mindful eating, whether we choose to forego animal-based foods or simply reduce their consumption. Foer graciously ruminated on my meat-y questions when I spoke with him by phone last week.

KT: Your book is making quite a splash; it seems like you have this huge potential to influence a lot of people who haven’t previously given this a whole lot of thought.

JSF: I hope so. I know the topic is not easy to approach. But I also know that if the conversation is had correctly, it’s a conversation Americans are not only willing to have, they want to have.

When I did “Ellen,” I looked at her audience – it’s not Berkeley granola-eaters. It’s people on a fixed income, it’s a lot of mothers, a lot of people who come there from the middle of America. And people care.

KT: The industrial meat industry is attempting to dismiss your critique of their operating methods in the same way they’ve attacked Michael Pollan, Eric Schlosser and all the others who’ve written exposes of factory farming. You presumably expected some backlash; has it been better or worse than you anticipated?

JSF: Infinitely better. The book’s now been reviewed, I don’t know, a hundred times or whatever it is, and there are enough people who think I’m an jerk, there are enough people who think the style is annoying. But there has not been a single argument in defense of factory farming, or against the premise of the book. Not even a whiff of it.

KT: Let me ask you, is the term “conscientious carnivore” an oxymoron?

JSF: No, and I think that points to something important, which is that these words “carnivore” and “vegetarian” do a real disservice to the conversation. They imply an on/off switch rather than a spectrum. When it’s framed as an all-or-nothing, people who don’t feel like they can do everything sometimes think they should do nothing.
KT: Which is why I so like the Meatless Monday campaign. It’s all about moderation – start your week off right. Positive change. Speaking of positive change, I’ve always had this fantasy that factory farming could become obsolete in our lifetime.

JSF: I think it’s not a fantasy. Remember it only came into being during our parents’ lifetime. And you can rest assured it’s going to disappear. The only question is, is it going to disappear voluntarily or involuntarily?

KT: Glenn Beck and PETA’s Ingrid Newkirk recently ganged up on Al Gore, calling him a hypocrite for not adopting a vegetarian diet. If you happened to find yourself seated next to the former vice president at some gala or forum, what would you say to him on this topic?

JSF: He’s a very smart guy, and I’m sure he’s thought of this stuff before. He knows quite a bit more about the environment than Ingrid Newkirk or Glenn Beck. He has a role in the world, an enormously important role. If he were to declare his vegetarianism tomorrow, it’s conceivable that he wouldn’t be able to do his role in the same way. These are the realities of the world. It shouldn’t be, but it’s considered a fringe position. Yet things are changing. 18% of college students now follow a plant-based diet.

KT: Would you be willing to share your Thanksgiving menu with us?

JSF: I would if I knew it! You can probably guess what it won’t include. But I don’t yet know what it’s going to be. There’s some pressure on me to figure it out (laughs.)

KT: You might need to figure that out before you go on Martha Stewart.

JSF: Oh, maybe I’ll even prepare something with her. Wouldn’t that be funny?

Kerry Trueman is an edible landscaping advocate who writes about real food, low-impact living and sustainable agriculture for the Huffington Post, AlterNet, the Green Fork, Air America, and EatingLiberally.org. Her latest project is Retrovore.com, a website for farmers, gardeners and eaters who favor conservation over consumption.

Daphne Oz is a graduate of Princeton University and author of The Dorm Room Diet, a national bestseller that helps college students create healthy eating habits. Her father Mehmet Oz is a cardiac surgeon, talk show host and acclaimed author. Daphne uses both personal experience and the lessons of her upbringing to answer collegiate questions about diet and nutrition:

The introduction to The Dorm Room Diet welcomes readers of varying nutritional backgrounds. How can young people change their eating habits despite an upbringing that didn’t include healthy dining choices?

The trick to forming healthy dining habits, because or in spite of the habits you were raised with, is to live in the moment. Make every eating decision consciously. When you do splurge, just make sure you’ve actually made a decision to indulge, and are not quickly cramming food into your mouth simply out of habit, boredom – or because you think no one is looking (your waistline will be!).

Proper nutrition during your college years can have benefits beyond your immediate health. How do healthy eating habits impact academic success?

The blood sugar spike that occurs when you ingest a ton of simple carbohydrates gives a huge jolt of jittery energy, followed almost immediately by a blood sugar crash that can leave you exhausted and craving another sugar fix. Obviously, this makes focusing on classwork incredibly difficult. Making sure you are getting plenty of fruits and veggies, complex carbohydrates, proteins, and good fats can aid in mental acuity, information retention, and concentration.

In your book, you write that students should consume three small servings of protein a day, but you also state that only one serving should come from meat. What other foods offer protein and what benefits do they hold over meat products?

The next time you’re weighing whether you “need” to eat meat for your third meal of the day, keep in mind that Americans, on the whole, get up to 5 times more protein than they need. Also, meat isn’t the only source of protein, and you do NOT need it in your diet (certainly not on an every day basis). Consider this: A 6-ounce broiled porterhouse steak has 38 grams of protein, but it also has 44 grams of fat!

Some of my favorite meatless protein sources from my college days are kidney beans, garbanzo beans (chickpeas), lowfat cheese, cottage cheese, yogurt, peanut butter, protein bars, tofu/seitan jerky, cooked lentils, spinach and soy crisps.

What tips do you have for students who are trying to make healthy meatless choices?

I would say that the most important thing is to plan your meals. If you can, pack your own food, but it is also possible to get a healthful variety in the cafeteria. Most colleges provide extensive salad bars, as well as cooked meatless options (whole grains, vegetable stir fry, sandwiches, etc).

Many students find trips to dining hall overwhelming. Do you have any tips for successfully navigating the wide range of choices?

I certainly found adjusting to cafeteria eating to be one of the more difficult transitions I had to make. You’re confronted with so many options! It’s not so hard though once you come to understand that food is meant for fuel, not a social lubricant or time waster. Establishing a healthy eating menu early on in the school year can spare you some of the stress of decision making while you’re still getting your bearings.

One fail safe way to make sure you stay on track is to choose your salad items first: pile your plate high with lettuce, fresh veggies, beans and legumes. After you’ve made your salad choice, go back for the less healthy options, and take half portions. Eat the salad first, then eat what you like of the rest of your meal.

There seems to be a lot of chatter lately about the nutritional value of meatless meals. While some agree limiting meat is a healthy choice, others worry that plant-based fare won’t provide adequate protein. Truth is, by having a Meatless Monday, you not only are nourishing your body with sufficient and diverse protein sources, you’re taking strides toward better health.

During a recent USDA press conference, a reporter asked the U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack how he felt about Meatless Monday in Baltimore City Public Schools:

Mr. Secretary, I was wondering if it bothered you… that school districts like Baltimore, Maryland institute Meatless Mondays… not letting the children have protein in the diet by doing that.

The misconception that meat is the only source of protein is a common one. But in truth, protein can be adequately obtained from beans, nuts, whole grains and vegetables. In most parts of the world meat isn’t the primary source of protein in the average diet. Indeed, globally, only 30% of protein is derived from animal sources!

Dr. Marion Nestle, a nationally renowned food expert and professor of nutrition, food studies and public health at New York University, agrees that a proper nutritional balance can be easily obtained through plant-based meals:

All proteins are made up of the same amino acids. ALL. No exceptions. The difference between animal and vegetable proteins is in the content of certain amino acids. If vegetable proteins are mixed, the differences get made up. Even if they aren’t mixed, all you need to do to get the right amount of low amino acids is to eat more of that food. There is no “need” for animal proteins at all.

Melissa Mahoney, the dietician responsible for the nutrition of the Baltimore City Public Schools, selected Meatless Monday as a positive way to introduce healthy options to the students she serves. Each Meatless Monday meal provides more protein than the USDA requires. The menu consists of beans, milk, grains and a wide variety of fruits and vegetables, ensuring that the students “don’t lose out on a single gram.”

Further, the children who attend Baltimore City Public Schools are learning the value of a varied diet firsthand. Not only do they enjoy a multitude of options in the cafeteria, they discuss nutrition in their science and health classes. According to The Atlantic, “…in the elementary and middle school grades, teachers are talking about Meatless Monday in relation to the food pyramid.” The diverse program developed there ensures the student body will be capable of making nutritionally sound choices as they move into adulthood.

You too can explore the limitless possibilities of plant-based protein! Here is just a short list of protein sources you can enjoy this Meatless Monday, complete with a recipe to get you started:

Peanut Butter- 4 grams per tbsp
Peanut Banana Pudding

Broccoli- 4 grams in 1 cup
Eastern Vegetable Noodle Soup

Soymilk- 7 grams in 1 cup
Pumpkin Spice Pancakes

Tofu- 11 grams in 5 oz
Spinach Tofu Curry

Lentils- 18 grams in 1 cup
Lentil Shepherd’s Pie

You may be surprised to learn the culinary potential of the pumpkin goes way beyond a can of pumpkin pie mix. Underused in American cooking, this nutritional powerhouse is revered for its leaves, seeds and roasted flesh in other countries. A member of the gourd family, pumpkins are packed with dietary fiber, potassium and vitamins A, B and C. With so many nutrients and very few calories, it’s no wonder Jack O’ Lantern can’t stop grinning!

Carving pumpkins wasn’t a Halloween tradition until the 20^th century, but the fall harvest has traditionally been the season to celebrate the pumpkin. This year, make full use of the pumpkin and put its leaves in pasta sauce or fry the flesh to cook up some pumpkin tempura. The Thai often steam custard inside of a pumpkin, so take a tip from Thailand and use a hallowed out pumpkin as an innovative serving dish.

When cooking with pumpkin, remember that canned pumpkin puree can be a good time-saver if you’re in a hurry. But cooking your own lowers sodium content — and gives your dish a nice roasted flavor. To make your own puree, cut a pumpkin in half, scoop out the seeds and roast, cut side down, in a 400 degree oven for 50-60 minutes. Remember to save the seeds. Soaking them in water for a few minutes will release any excess pumpkin pulp, then toasting them with a sprinkling of salt and olive oil will ensure a tasty snack. Pumpkin seeds have been used to treat anxiety and 1 gram of the pumpkin seed protein contains more tryptophan than a full glass of milk. Hand them out this Halloween and see the grins of the trick-or-treaters light up like Jack O Lanterns.

Check out some more Pumpkin recipes from Meatless Monday:

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Muffins

Curried Pumkin Lentil Soup

Ravioli with Pumpkin Seed Pesto

Pumpkin Pie Yogurt

When your mom’s a doctor and your dad’s a spa chef, what’s a meatless tween to do? Well in the case of then 12 year old Elyse May, she harnessed her well-rounded knowledge and wrote a teen’s meatless cookbook. Initially a junior high school project, Veggie Teens: A Cookbook and Guide for Vegetarian Teenagers grew to an award-winning, nationally published cookbook that has since spun off to a popular Veggie Teens blog. In her more recent posts, Elyse shares her unique perspective on various veggie topics ranging from meatless cooking to home grown food to plant based diet nutrition- and all at the ripe old age of 14.

“Just because we don’t like to eat animals doesn’t mean we don’t like to eat” Elyse writes about her family’s passion for meatless meals. Veggie Teens blog can serve as an excellent guide for those unfamiliar with just how many ways that anyone can go meatless. Elyse profiles a variety of plant based diets- from veganism to lacto vegetarianism to ovo vegetarianism- opening the doors to expand our way of thinking about dietary preferences. In the cookbook labels are used to distinguish dishes and recipes are marked as appropriate for which group.

Elyse’s parents get in the act, often serving as guest writers on the blog. Elyse’s Mom, Dr. Michelle May wrote a post advising parents on what to do if you child chooses a plant based diet. Elyse’s dad, Chef Owen May, cooked side-by-side his daughter to collaborate in creating the Veggie Teens Cookbook recipes. The family even grows their own food together, blogging as their gardening takes them from preparation to planting to harvesting to (our personal favorite) eating their meatless culinary concoctions.

Elyse’s recent entries have given meal ideas for anyone wanting to go meatless on Monday. In a recent review, Elyse speaks out for moderation in the interest of sustaining healthy eating. She gives advice to teens thinking about going meatless, recommending that they to start small and gradually decrease meat intake while learning about nutrition and meal planning. Elyse’s parents echo this health and wellness focus as Elyse’s mom and dad provide Chefs Notes and MD Notes to the Veggie Teens blog, alongside Elyse’s Teen Notes. Elyse, Michelle and Owen’s tips all come from a distinct perspective, but blend together on Veggie Teens blog harmoniously; proof that meatless cooking can be an absolutely delectable family affair.

As we opened the October 2009 issue of Gourmet magazine, an impossibly good coupon fell into our lap. “Gourmet is having a very special white sale,” the promotional card announced, “12 issues for $15. It’s like getting 8 issues free!” We were suspicious of the enthusiasm behind the offer. “Is this the epicurean deal of a lifetime – or a plea from a luxury-oriented print mag. struggling in a market saturated with free online cooking resources?”

Indeed, on October 5th, Conde Nast CEO Chuck Townsend announced that Gourmet would cease production following its November 2009 issue. In light of the recession, Townsend said the publishing house wanted to focus on magazines with the most growth potential. Gourmet had enjoyed a long run. The magazine originally made its mark premiering large layouts and lush color food photos back in the 1940’s (and promptly put its black and white, tiny-fonted competitor, American Cookery, out of business).

Initially, general lifestyle magazines like Good Housekeeping broadened their focus to include sections on fine dining and home cooking. In the 1980’s, editor Janet Montant expanded Gourmet to be a publication devoted to all aspects of living a gourmet lifestyle, not just dining like one. Gourmet grew to boast sections on travel, drinks and gourmet “obsessions” (products). Historian Anne Mendelson describes Gourmet as “not a food magazine, but a general-interest magazine with an emphatic take on one of life’s greatest pleasures”.

Just as the 1980’s brought an influx of high-end lifestyle magazines treading on Gourmet’s territory, with the late 90’s came the rise of the Internet. This led to even more competition as free cooking resources sprang up all over cyberspace. Although Gourmet’s turn of the century circulation was the largest it had ever been at 900,000, companies were more interested in buying ad space in one of the countless recipe databases online. As editor-in-chief Ruth Reichl reported in an August 2009 interview, “It’s ironic because our circulation has never been higher. And yet advertising dollars are a challenge.”

The economic downturn of the last year perhaps hit luxury-focused magazines the hardest. As people had less money to engage in non-essential activities, they also had less disposable income to buy a magazine to read about such interests. Gourmet tried to keep up with the efficiency-obsessed Food Network in creating a Gourmet Everyday section featuring 10 Minute Main courses. This new content may have appealed to busy families, but it steered away from Gourmet’s original audience — a dangerous strategy even in the best-of-times.

Some of Gourmet’s offshoots found success, like the TV show Diary of a Foodie or Gourmet.com, with its popular politics of the plate feature. These modern facets of the “Gourmet empire” will live on after Gourmet completes its run as a printed publication. Gourmet is one of several magazines Conde Nast is retiring this year, along with Modern Bride, Elegant Bride and Cookie. Do these cancellations imply that we’re growing disinterested with family-oriented luxury? Perhaps, but more likely these topics will still get coverage through different media. Epicurious.com plans to run original recipes from Gourmet regularly and Editor-in-Chief Reichl is scheduled to debut her new food show Gourmet’s Adventures with Ruth. Although we will miss flipping through it in print, Gourmet will still exist online, on television and in our memories.

This interview was contributed by Kerry Truman of The Huffington Post.

Food products created just for kids are a relatively new phenomenon; back in the day, children ate the same foods that grown-ups did, only in smaller quantities.

In recent decades, however, we’ve witnessed the rise of ‘fun’, kid-centric cuisine–i.e.,those processed foods plastered with cartoon characters that enthrall tots and appall their mothers, turning the center aisles of the supermarket into a minefield (or, more accurately, a whinefield). Weary parents routinely cave in and buy the real-life equivalent of Calvin and Hobbe’s chocolate frosted sugar bombs to defuse an exploding toddler in the breakfast cereal aisle.

Of course, during this same period, we’ve also seen a dramatic increase in childhood obesity and Type 2 diabetes, a disease once seen only in adults.

Coincidence? Consider the astonishing success of Kraft’s Lunchables, which are “loaded with saturated fat, salt, and sugars,” as NYU nutrition professor Dr. Marion Nestle notes in What To Eat. She adds that “they are not about nutrition; they are about sales and profits, as made clear by Kraft’s nearly $26 million advertising expenditure on Lunchables in 2004–and the $500 million in revenues that it generated.”

Sure, there are plenty of parents who’d rather send their kids off to school with a more wholesome, less processed lunch. But how does your average mom or dad compete with cartoon characters and action figures?

If you’re Jennifer McCann, the answer lies in becoming a kind of homegrown superhero yourself. McCann is a veggie-loving blogger who began documenting the delicious and delightfully inventive plant-based lunches she created for her son on his “first day of school in 2005,” as the New York Times recently reported. Thousands of parents desperate for a healthy alternative to the lamentable Lunchables began flocking to McCann’s website and trying her recipes, launching her on a new career as a cookbook author.

McCann’s cookbooks may be geared towards children, but they’re perfect for anyone–kids or no kids–who enjoys simple, eclectic dishes featuring fresh takes on familiar foods. Her stated goal is “to inspire others to eat more healthy, plant-based meals and move more.”

I interviewed her recently via email to find out more about how this “bento blogger” became a publishing phenomenon:

KT: How did you first become interested in making bento boxes for your family?

JM: When my son started first grade. I had never packed lunches before, and at first I couldn’t come up with any meatless ideas beyond peanut butter and jelly. Then I asked my son what he wanted for his first day of school and he said “Sushi!” It opened up my eyes and I started thinking of all kinds of dishes I could pack. They looked so cute in his colorful lunch box, I started taking pictures and blogging and doing more things to make his lunches little works of art.

KT: Did you ever imagine when you first began blogging about your son’s lunches that your website would find such a wide audience?

JM: Not at all! I thought there would be some other moms looking for healthy ideas for their kid’s lunch boxes, but I never imagined that it would grow so big so fast, with thousands of people checking in each day to see what my son had for lunch!

KT: Your cookbooks offer a culinary whirlwind world tour, with recipes inspired by just about every cuisine under the sun. I know you’re partial to Japan, the birthplace of bento, but what other countries’ cuisines are among your personal favorites ?

JM: Oh, so many! I’m very partial the cooking of Mexico and Africa, especially West African and Ethiopian cuisine.

KT: You are a fearless promoter of such under-appreciated veggies as kohlrabi and kale. Is there any vegetable that you couldn’t persuade your son to eat regardless of how entertainingly you presented it?

JM: Absolutely, all kids have their own tastes. Some veggies, like onions and peppers, my son won’t try in any form. Others, like salad or kale, he’ll only eat occasionally or if I make it a certain way.

KT: Your profile on your website suggests that you’re an avid gardener. How much food gardening do you do? Was there anything you planted that wasn’t worth the trouble, in retrospect? What’s grown especially well for you?

JM: I do like to garden! I have a large vegetable garden in my backyard. Tomatoes grow wonderfully here; I usually can enough tomatoes to last us the rest of the year. I also have great success with zucchini, melons, winter squash, okra, raspberries and strawberries. Brussels sprouts and broccoli have been a disaster — they get buggy.

KT: Have you ever contemplated working that McCann magic with breakfast or dinner?

JM: Well, we often eat something for dinner and then feature it in a lunch the next day — leftovers make great lunches! But breakfast almost never changes — it’s always a smoothie made exactly the same way. I guess none of us are ready for an adventure first thing in the morning!

Depicted in ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics, the grape is the world’s first recorded preventative health hero. Although its high concentration of vitamins B, C and K work to boost your immune system, it is the supplement Resveratrol, found only in grape skin, that makes the grape a standout preventative power. Resveratrol has been linked to inhibiting cancer cells, as well as protecting the cardiovascular system from heart disease. Grape skin has also been associated with reducing blood vessel damage and decreasing blood pressure. The red-skinned Concord grape has been shown to protect against hypertension, too.

However, not all grapes are created equal. Red grape skin has higher concentrations of Reveratrol and is higher in anti-oxidants than the skin of white or green grapes. Similarly, because in red wine the grapes are fermented with the skin, red wine possesses more preventative health benefits than white, which is produced using only grape pulp.

71% of grapes are grown to make wine, whereas 27% are sold as fresh fruit and 2% are sold dried as raisins or currants. The health benefits of moderate red wine consumption versus the drawbacks are constantly in debate, so to get the grape’s maximum nutritional value, focus on the fresh, juiced and dried forms. Snack on them straight from the vine or heat them together with lemon juice and sugar to make your own grape jelly. Grapes are often overlooked as a wonderful addition to savory dishes, so try sprinkling them on our Super Simple Waldorf Salad.

I haven’t got much in common with Whitney Houston; I’m not tall or thin, and I can’t belt out show-stoppers. Oh, and I’m white. But, like Whitney, I believe that children are our future. We all agree – whatever size, shape or color we may be – that it’s in everyone’s interests to feed our children well.

“Good nutrition is essential to good learning,” as President Lyndon B. Johnson stated when he signed the Child Nutrition Act into law in 1966.

Kids need fresh, wholesome, nutrient-dense foods to ensure proper brain development; talk about a no-brainer! You can’t nourish children on a steady diet of processed foods full of fatty, empty carbs and sugary soda or juice.

And yet, we’ve been trying to do just that for the past few decades. Heat ‘n’ serve convenience foods have replaced made-from-scratch meals in cafeterias and kitchens all over the country. As Michael Pollan points out in Food, Inc., “the way we eat has changed more in the last 50 years than in the previous 10,000.”

The result? Obesity rates among children have doubled in the last 10 years and tripled for adolescents, according to One Tray, a national campaign dedicated to promoting “more healthful, more sustainably produced and regionally sourced school food that can improve the health of kids, develop new marketing opportunities for farmers, and support the local economy.” Sounds like a win-win-win to me.

We know fruits and vegetables are packed with all kinds of nutrients and fiber and other key ingredients that keep us healthy. And yet, only 2% of children get enough fruits and vegetables to meet the USDA’s Food Guide Pyramid serving recommendations. An entire generation is missing out on the pleasures of home-cooked meals made with freshly harvested foods.

But there’s a growing movement to reclaim our food chain and give our children the tools they need to achieve kitchen literacy. It begins with feeding them real food, but it doesn’t stop there; programs are flourishing all over the country dedicated to teaching kids how to grow food and cook it, too.

Campaigns like One Tray At A Time and Slow Food’s Time For Lunch are galvanizing support for better school food. Chef Ann Cooper, the Renegade Lunch Lady, has launched a new website, The Lunch Box, whose motto is “healthy tools to help all schools”.

Family Cook Productions has been a pioneer in the development of programs that provide families, schools, and corporations with the skills to “bring families together around delicious, fresh food”. Lynn Fredericks, the founder of Family Cook Productions, is also the author of Cooking Time Is Family Time: Cooking Together, Eating Together, and Spending Time Together, an ahead-of-its-time guide that shows parents how to make mealtime a fun, family-centered activity that kids of all ages can participate in.

Meatless Monday’s getting ready to launch its own contribution to this real food renaissance: The Kids Cook Monday. We’ll be featuring kid-friendly recipes, how-to videos, materials for teachers and other resources to inspire kids and parents everywhere to start each week off by make eating right on family night.

Kerry Trueman is an edible landscaping advocate who writes about real food, low-impact living and sustainable agriculture for the Huffington Post, AlterNet, the Green Fork, Air America, and EatingLiberally.org. Her latest project is Retrovore.com, a website for farmers, gardeners and eaters who favor conservation over consumption.

America has a well-earned reputation for serving up large quantities of cheap, fast food. Such meals may seem like a bargain on the surface, but a closer look shows us that these highly processed, industrialized food products have a multitude of hidden expenses. Brian Walsh, a health and science writer for TIME Magazine, recently tallied up the impact that industrial farming is having on the environment, our health and the national budget. Though he follows in the footsteps of many notable advocates – including Frances Moore Lappé and Michael Pollan – Walsh hopes that, by showing us the numbers, we will finally hold ourselves accountable.

Modern industrialized farming is severely impacting the environment. Our current food system accounts for 19% of all fossil fuel use in the United States, more than any other sector of the economy. The emissions from these fuels leads to increased climate change, and dependence on them leaves our food system hanging in the balance. In a recent interview with WNYC radio, Brian Walsh noted that, as fuel prices rise, so too does the cost of food:

Last year, when there was a spike in food costs, that was partially due to the fact that oil was so expensive… If one of the things that keeps (the food system) cheap is its ability to use petroleum… you have to worry… is that sustainable? What’s going to happen when it costs two, three times as much as it does now?

Waterways and wildlife are paying the price for our love of fossil fuels too. Petroleum is one of the ingredients used in industrial fertilizer. The United States uses 23 million tons of chemical fertilizer every year (10 million tons are used on corn alone). Runoff from fields carries these chemicals to our streams and oceans. This results in “dead zones”; pockets in the ocean that are almost completely void of oxygen and therefore cannot sustain life. Runoff from areas around the Mississippi river have resulted in a dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico that is over 6,000 square miles in area. This greatly impacts the region’s fishing industry, which loses the profit normally generated by the 212,000 metric tons of seafood that disappear each year The ramifications of cheap food do not end with the environment. Processed foods and industrialized meats are impacting our national health, both physically and economically. 70% of antibiotics used in the United States are given to livestock so that they might survive the conditions on factory farms. Antibiotics may make meat more affordable, but Walsh argues that there are long term problems:

Nowadays farmers can grow (cows and chickens) incredibly quickly and that’s one of the reasons why its less expensive… but the problem is, when you’re using a lot of antibiotics like that, you promote the growth of resistant bacteria. Every time you use an antibiotic drug, bacteria will react to it and some will begin to develop a resistance. And that’s worrying because then you get a rise in infections in human beings that can’t be treated by antibiotics, and we’re already seeing that…

It is estimated that antibiotic-resistant illnesses cost our public health system 4 to 5 billion dollars every year.

Our obsession with cheap food greatly contributes to the obesity epidemic as well. Most American livestock is fed corn, which only increases meat’s fat content. Corn is also used to produce many of our favorite processed foods. To ensure that corn (and by proxy our dinner) stays cheap, the industry receives $50 billion in government subsidies every year. The obesity epidemic accounts for $147 billion of the nation’s yearly healthcare expenses. When you consider that the American taxpayer is fronting the bill, the price of cheap food is decidedly more than what we’re paying at the drive thru.

Corn-based, processed food is thriving at the expense of more nutritious alternatives. “A study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that a dollar could buy 1,200 calories of potato chips or 875 calories of soda but just 250 calories of vegetables or 170 calories of fresh fruit.” This leaves struggling families in a predicament; they can choose to buy small quantities of nutritious foods or filling qualities of unhealthy, processed foods. When this is taken into consideration it is no wonder that research has linked obesity to socioeconomic status.

The environmental and health costs of meat consumption will only increase if we continue at our current pace. Americans already eat four times as much meat and dairy as the rest of the world. Walsh suggests that, as developing countries adopt western values, the demand for meat will steadily rise.

As the developing world grows richer, hundreds of millions of people will want to shift to the same calorie-heavy, protein-rich diet that has made Americans so unhealthy – demand for meat and poultry worldwide is set to rise 25% by 2015 – but the earth can no longer deliver.

Faced with the ever-growing toll that cheap food is taking on the environment, our health, and the national budget, many are looking for ways to cut costs. Going meatless on Monday is a great way to do just that. Reducing consumption of meats is one of the easiest and most profitable actions any individual can make, as Michael Pollan notes. Not only does it cut your risk for many preventable diseases, but it also reduces carbon dioxide emissions, antibiotic-resistant bacteria, chemical runoff, and disruption of natural ecosystems.

More, a resurgence of sustainable, local agriculture is imperative if we hope to reduce the expenses caused by our current food practices. Today less than 1% of America’s cropland is farmed organically. Of that land, much of it belongs to companies that have joined the recent green craze, hoping to grab a share of the organic market. Though these products reduce the amount of chemicals going into our food, they still tend to travel great distances from the farm to your table, and continue to be overly processed. Food grown locally saves fossil fuels and tends to be fresher. Acknowledgment of our need to think sustainably is increasing, and so too are accessible options for selecting greener groceries.

The good news is farmer’s markets are on the rise nationwide. Even urban communities have seen a recent resurgence of gardens, markets, and co-ops. Purchasing produce from a farmer’s market ensures that your money is being spent on nutritionally dense food and also helps the country’s small businesses. Some farmer’s markets have even begun accepting food stamps, thereby assuring the right of all individuals to have healthy, satisfying food.

We, as a nation, must begin thinking about the consequences of our choices. As we begin to demand more viable options, we’ll see an increase in availability. One easy thing we can all do for now is go meatless once a week to preserve our health and save the planet. Make this Monday meatless and together we can curb unhealthy, unsustainable food!