Day Six

Day Six:
I went to Publix and bought packaged tempeh for the first time today. To some omnivores, that may seem like an odd, exotic word, but it's a staple for many a vegetarian/vegan. It's a bit like tofu, though the texture and consistency are vastly different. It's comprised of fermented soybeans, which sounds mildly repugnant, but is quite delicious when prepared correctly. I'm pretty sure that the first time I had tempeh was at a vegan breakfast joint in Brooklyn [cooked in a mouth-watering breakfast burrito!]

Anyway, here are some tempeh recipes you can try for yourself. I know I'm making the barbecued tempeh! mmm mmm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tempeh

Tasty, tasty recipes:

• http://www.foodfit.com/recipes/recipe.asp?rid=1797
• http://www.recipezaar.com/recipes/tempeh
• http://www.tofurky.com/recipes/tempehrecipes.htm

Related but on a side note, I'd like to let everyone know that by reducing your meat consumption you will be beneficially impacting yourself and your environment in more ways than you can imagine. Aside for obvious reasons such as animal mistreatment, meat production is the most wasteful industry in the U.S. From fattening the animals for slaughter to shipping them thousands of miles for sale at grocery stores across the nation, the process accounts for around 18% of our greenhouse gas emissions [that's more than our country's transportation emissions!] Not only that, but the amount of food required to feed the livestock to the extent that the animals are the "most profitable" could feed millions of starving people worldwide. It is just insanely inefficient and unnecessary.

So, one new thing you could do today is challenge yourself to reduce your meat consumption. Maybe by gradually weening yourself off or quitting cold Tofurky. Any method is a step in the right direction, for your health and the world around you.