Introduction Molly

Icebreaker: Meaty or Meatless Rachel

Show various pictures of recipe dishes made with meat or non-meat protein sources
Participants will work together to decide whether the dish is meaty or meatless
This will be used to make the audience more comfortable with the idea of having meatless
dishes since they can look so similar to meat dishes. Audience will no longer think that meatless
just means tofu (like the white block) and vegetables.
Pictures
Vegetable Lasagna
Garlic Chicken Stir Fry
Quinoa Burger
Pasta with Meat Sauce
Tofu Tacos

Objectives: By the end of this lesson, you will be able to Molly

Plan a Meatless Monday menu that includes plant based protein sources
Assess at least two reasons for participating in Meatless Mondays

Content 1: Rachel
- What is Meatless Monday? When did it start? What is the movement is about?
- World War I campaign (the war 1914-1918) - Saving meat for the soldiers
- Originally Meatless Tuesdays and lead by Herbert Hoover to help conserve food for
soldiers and the citizens of allied countries
- Meatless Tuesdays and Wheatless Wednesdays
- Also cut back on fat and sugar
- Then World War II in continued under FDR to help the war effort on the home front. Truman
then continued the campaign after the war to help feed war-ravaged Europe.
- Revived in 2003 in association with Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health as public
health awareness campaign prevent illness associated with excessive meat consumption and
negative effects on the planet
- A lot of restaurants and chefs are now offering Meatless Monday menus just like they did in
WWI

Content 2: Nutrition Molly

- The primary difference between animal and plant proteins is their amino acid profile.
- Explain what amino acids are, what essential and nonessential amino acids are
- Animal Protein:
- Fish, poultry, eggs, dairy, meat, seafood
- Health benefits, considerations
- Animal proteins are considered complete proteins because they contain all 9 of the
essential amino acids.
- Essential: AAs that are not made by the body and must be supplied by food sources.
- Some meats can be high in saturated fat, which can lead to increased LDL cholesterol
(the bad kind) which puts you at risk for heart disease
- Plant Protein:
- Include beans, lentils, nuts and seeds, soy (tofu, tempeh, edamame), grains (quinoa,
amaranth, barley, brown rice, oats)
 - Health benefits, considerations
- Vegetarians that eat little to no animal proteins need to think about the quality of the
protein they are consuming and complementing plant based protein foods throughout
the day.
- Advantages over animal protein: they are low in saturated fat, and provide dietary fiber,
various antioxidants and are less expensive. Plant proteins are good sources of
unsaturated fat reduced risk of heart disease, cancer, and T2DM
- Incomplete Proteins: most plant-based proteins are incomplete proteins, meaning they
are missing some essential amino acids.
- You can pair incomplete proteins from plant-based sources to form a complete
protein with the following formula:
- Legumes/beans in the middle
- Combined with either grains (remind them that corn is a grain)
- Or with Nuts/seeds (pumpkin, sesame, sunflower, flax seeds) (remind
them that peanuts are actually legumes)
- Examples: rice and beans; peanut butter sandwiches
- Do not have to worry about having them in the same meal have them in the
same day to get this benefit
Activity 1: Plan a Meatless Monday menu that includes plant-based proteins
- Handout
- Have them explain what health benefits they will get from reducing meat for one day of the
week

Content 3: Environment Rachel + Molly for quotes

Meat Production has tripled over the last 30 years and continues to rise.
There are more than 1.7 billion animals used as livestock around the world and they occupy more than
1/4th of the Earths land.
Production of animal feed utilizes 1/3rd of the total crop lands.
Livestock production accounts for about 40% of the global agricultural gross domestic product.
- What is needed to produce meat?
- Water for the animals to drink and in order to clean living areas
- Food for the livestock to eat
- Land for the feed to grow and the animals to live
- The effects on the environment include
- Overuse of water supplies involved in feedings the animals, cleaning the animals, and
washing areas of processing
- Destroyed lands form the need for more farming land to produce massive amounts of
feed for the animals and areas for the animals to live. This destroys forests and
grasslands. Many forests are cut away to make more room for additional farmland.
- Beef, pork, and poultry also emit a large amount of carbon dioxide, methane, and other
greenhouse gases.
- Water: For a single pound of beef, we use 1,800-2,500 gallons of water, vs. 220 gallons of water
for a lb of soy tofu
- Greenhouse Gas: The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that the
meat industry accounts for of the man-made greenhouse gas emissions, contributing to
worldwide climate change more than the entire transportation contribution
 - Fossil Fuels: On average, about 40 calories of fossil fuel energy go into every calorie of feed lot
beef in the U.S., while only 2.2 calories of fossil fuel energy go into every calorie of plant-based
protein
Runoff Pollution
- There is runoff pollution from the animal waste and feed crop fertilizer.
- The fertilizers and waste bring nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium into the water, depleting
the oxygen that fish and other aquatic life need to survive.
- Overtime this can cause soil erosion and dead zones in the coastal waters. This decreases usable
land for farming and the health of the water.
How can participating in meatless mondays help?
- Decrease resources used overtime with decreased demand overall
- Slow the rate of pollution from the decreased production

Content 4: Economics Rachel

- Meat in general costs more for the public to buy. Buying whole, unprocessed sources of plant
proteins is low in cost. More processed plant proteins such as ones designed to mimic meat
options are often more costly and less healthy.
- Cost comparisons between meat and meatless options

Remember these comparisons are using the cheapest meats possible, lower in quality.
- Burger vs Black Bean Burger
- Chicken enchilada vs vegetable enchilada
- Pasta with meat sauce vs pasta with vegetables
Not only less expensive, but also more variety of ingredients and nutrients.

Activity: Talk about reasons to participate in Meatless Mondays. Molly

What would motivate you to participate in Meatless Mondays?
Nutrition, Environment, Economics, or a mix of a few?
Handout: What is your reason for participating in Meatless Monday?
Use this as motivation!

Call to action Rachel

Start participating in Meatless Monday!

Questions?
Thank you!