There are many benefits to reducing or completely eliminating your meat consumption. Not only does it have positive effects on your body but the environment as well! Some of the biological benefits of omitting meat from your diet include reducing body inflammation, improving overall dermatological health, and lowering the risk of type two diabetes, cancer, and chronic disease. Thinking about the effects that consuming meat has on the environment makes it easier to put things into perspective: 2000 gallons of water are used to produce just one pound of beef, oceans are estimated to be fishless by the year 2048, and the majority of crops that are grown are fed to livestock thus contributing to world hunger. Making the effort to reduce the amount of meat you consume on a regular basis has great effects and is worth considering.
If you’d like to give this a try, I’ve found three easy, fast, and meatless meals to make that are easy to eat on the go. The first meal is stir fry! This can be very easy to make and can last you way more than a day depending on the quantity you cook. All it takes is cooking your favourite mix of vegetables in a pan, seasoned the way you like, and some rice or beans as the base. This meal takes about 20 minutes to make, tastes good whether it is hot or cold, and is an easy way to get your vegetables in!
Another meal that is easy to make and versatile is vegetable wraps! The food items that are put inside are totally up to you and depend on your specific taste but some popular ingredients that are used to make these are brown or spinach tortillas, hummus, avocado, beans, carrots, tomato, lettuce, and spinach. This lunch is another really easy way to get your vegetables in throughout the day. If you’d prefer this lunch to last you a while make sure to have some protein heavy ingredients!
The last meatless lunch idea is one of my favourites – bean salad. All it takes is cooking your favourite kind of beans (or a mix of different ones) and mixing in your favourite vegetables. I personally enjoy mixing red beans with chickpeas and adding green onion, spinach, mushrooms, green beans, and broccoli. I think that this meal tastes better cold which makes it even easier to eat on the go.
The good thing about these meal ideas is that you can change and cater them to your own taste and they are all really easy and good ways to eat healthy and avoid meat consumption! These recipes are easy to make in different variations so that they taste a little different every time (which makes things more exciting). I hope everybody considers reducing their consumption of meat and tries these lunch ideas out. Not only are you making your life easier but you are making a difference in your body and in the world.
