If you have been noodling around the idea of eating less meat, reading The Reducetarian Solution just might give you the nudge you need to start doing it.
A few weeks ago, I spotted The Reducetarian Solution, edited by Brian Kateman, in a Meatless Monday post entitled Give the Gift of Meatless Monday with these 8 Inspiring Books. Frankly one of the reasons the book appealed to me is that the word reducetarian seemed weird and wonky. I was intrigued.
The full title of the book The Reducetarian Solution: How the Surprisingly Simple Act of Reducing the Amount of Meat in Your Diet Can Transform Your Health and the Planet reeled me in. I care about the health of people, animals, and the planet.
It also occurred to me that this book might be a good source of inspiration for people pondering a 2019 New Year’s resolution involving eating more plants and less meat so I decided to read it now rather than later in the year.
Book Review
In the summer of 2014, Brian Kateman and his friend Tyler Alterman came up with the term reducetarian to provide an inclusive identity for people along the continuum of eating less meat and doing it for any reason.
The Reducetarian Solution is a collection of short essays loosely grouped into three sections: mind, body, and planet.
Chances are you will be familiar with one or more of the people who authored essays for the book. Each one provides a distinct perspective on eating less meat through the lens of reducetarianism. There is sure to be at least one essay that resonates with you.
Here is a sampling.
Mind
- Less Meat; More Dough – illustrates how eating less meat can be good for your wallet and points out that even the stock market is taking notice that Americans are eating less meat.
- Beyond Carnism – questions what causes us to treat farm animals differently than pets.
- From MREs to McRibs: Military Influence on American Meat Eating – provides a glimpse into how the U.S. military is partly responsible for the type of meat available at your local supermarket.
Body
- Listen to Your Body – reminds us that our body does actually let us know how it feels about what we put into it.
- Fall in Love with Plants – suggests focusing on the amazing array of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds you can have on your plate instead of the meat that is not on it.
- Antibiotic Resistance at the Meat Counter – brings to our attention the public health threat posed by the use of antibiotics on livestock animals.
Planet
- Roll Your Own: Weekday Vegetarian – makes a simple yet important point about eating less meat “Every little reduction helps improve both personal and planetary health.”
- An Uncertain Phosphorus Future – alerts us to the dangers of relying on synthetic fertilizers to grow food for animals and people.
- Global Mega-Trends and the Role of the Food Business – explains how climate change, resource constraints, and technology intersect with food.
The last 60 or so pages of the book contain recipes for people who want to eat more plants and less meat. I think that Eat the Rainbow Pizza, Berry-Bean and Quinoa Salad, and Chocolate-Coconut Chunk Cookies look like recipes worth trying.
The Bottom Line
Coining the term reducetarian was just the beginning for Brian Kateman and Tyler Alterman. In 2015, they co-founded the Reducetarian Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to reducing meat consumption in order to create a healthy, sustainable, and compassionate world. Their intent is to build reducetarianism into an identity, a community, and a movement.
The Reducetarian Solution is an easy to read book that covers a lot of ground. Each essay is only a few pages long, so if you have a busy schedule, you can read the book in short bursts.
I still think the term reducetarian is weird, but I like the concept because it embraces anyone and everyone who is reducing their own meat consumption whether by a little or a lot and for reasons as varied as personal health, social justice, environmental protection, ethical treatment of animals, or anything else.
It is not too late to make a New Year’s resolution to eat more plants and less meat.
Featured Image at Top: Reducetarian Foundation Logo
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