Going Meatless - Barriers

04/01/20 • 28 min

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We are not flocking to vegetarianism, and even less to veganism. In fact, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization projects that meat consumption will grow by 2% in the U.S. through 2027.

Between 20% and 30% of Americans say they are trying to cut or even drop meat-eating all together. Is it really happening? The increasing popularity of plant-based meat alternatives like the Impossible and Beyond Meat burgers shows that we are willing to try meatless options. We have a long way to go, despite the compelling arguments to go meatless; the ethics and morality of eating animals and/or the treatment of animals in the industrialized farm system, the environmental impact of large-scale animal agriculture, the health concerns around eating a lot of meat, and the health benefits of eating a plant-based diet.

This podcast explores our deep-seated attachment to meat and the journey most of us considering going meatless must travel to get there, with the help of Dr. Paul Rozin, a preeminent food psychologist who coined the term “Omnivore’s Dilemma” more than 40 years ago.

We are not flocking to vegetarianism, and even less to veganism. In fact, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization projects that meat consumption will grow by 2% in the U.S. through 2027.

Previous Episode

Pleasures of Fasting

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Intermittent fasting has been on the periphery of my attention as something getting buzz in the broader world of food and food marketing. In fact, intermittent fasting is among the most popular weight loss strategies as we roll through 2020. According to an annual survey by the International Food Information Council, about 10% of Americans tried intermittent fasting in 2019, second only to “Clean Eating.”
An app promoting intermittent fasting - DoFasting - broke through the onslaught of January diet marketing for me because fasting brings back poignant memories. Not because I’ve fasted to lose weight, but because fasting was an annual event in my family growing up. Breaking the fast is what I remember most and best. Food never tasted so good! And not just any food. Special food that did more than replenish your energy. A hearty, nourishing soup called harira (I give you my vegan version of it in this episode), figs, dates, eggs, and a special Moroccan sweet treat called chebakia.
This wave of interest in fasting got me wanting to revisit my experiences to better understand the potential of fasting, especially as something more than a way to lose weight. From my limited experience it seems like fasting can heighten the pleasure of eating and offer emotional, even spiritual rewards if it’s part of an overall approach to eating.
In this episode I talk to Liliya, who recently started a fasting Meetup group, about her experience and why she's a big proponent of IF. I also speak with Dr. Rachel Herz, a neuroscientist who specializes in perception and emotion, and author of "Why You Eat What You Eat." She tells me about some of the latest research into the health benefits of intermittent fasting related to managing insulin. Dr. Herz also talks about how we experience food after not eating for a long time, and speculates on the potential emotional benefits we derive from breaking the fast. Martina observes a vegan fast for weeks at a time, in addition to periodic 18-24 hour fasts. She describes the spiritual rewards of fasting.
Then we talk about food to break the fast with. Mehdi Menouar, owner of Meska Sweets, a Moroccan bakery/patisserie in Englewood, NJ, talks about his Moroccan Macaron and elaborates on chebakia, the heavenly cookie/pastry that is one of my favorite things in Moroccan cuisine, and a staple during the fasting month of Ramadan.

Next Episode

Growing Your Own Food

The major disruption in how we feed ourselves ignited by the Covid-19 pandemic, and the worries about the on-going impact this will have on America’s food supply chain, has spurred more people to look into growing their own food. But “growing your own food” has been on a long-term upward trend since the financial crisis in 2008.

According to the National Gardening Association, at least 35% of Americans say they do some amount of food gardening, and the appeal is growing across a broad swath of the population. Millennials, in particular, are driving this trend. While the median garden size is 75 sq. ft, the average size is 550 sq. ft. That’s a fair amount of the most popular things we grow; tomatoes, cucumbers, beans, carrots, and summer squash.

This podcast explores a range of approaches to growing and foraging your own food. Marjory Wildcraft, founder of the GROW network talks about her 3-part system, which relies on animals, for growing up to half of your food needs in your backyard. I tap into the wisdom of Wild Abundance, a permaculture and homesteading school, to learn what vegetables to grow, and look at some examples of a forest garden; a valuable but undervalued source of perennial edibles. I also talk with Roman Gonzalez, founder of Gardenio, a company that’s all about initiating Millennials into successfully growing edible plants, one herb at a time.

Sound clip courtesy of dersuperanton at Freesound.org