Eating Less Meat and Gardening Articles

Here are a couple of articles from today's New York Times that I think are very good and relevant to some of the things I have been trying to do:

Putting Meat in its Place
This first one is about how to eat less meat. Not just recipe ideas, but advice to make it psychologically more digestible. Here is a passage that I think sums up a lot about my own meat hang-ups:

"Remember that most traditional styles of cooking use meat as a condiment or a treat. This is true in American frontier cooking, where salt pork and bacon were used to season beans; in Italy, where a small piece of meat is served as a secondo (rarely more than a few ounces, even in restaurants); and around the world, where bits of meat are added to stir-fries and salads, as well as bean, rice and noodle dishes. In all of these cases, meat is seen as a treasure, not as something to be gobbled up as if it were air.

For many of us who grew up in the United States in the last 60 years, this is the toughest hurdle. The message (remember “Beef: it’s what’s for dinner”?) was in our psyche from before we could hold a fork. We may have vegetarian nights, or seafood nights, but when we have meat nights, there’s often a big piece of meat (or poultry) on the plate, with starch and vegetable to the side."

Even as I try to eat less meat, the meat invariably becomes the center of the plate (literally and mentally) instead of just another ingredient.

Gardeners New and Old Make Way For Vegetables
The second article is about how rising prices (amongst other factors) have caused a huge spike in the amount of people growing their own veggies. (Obviously, I am attempting to be part of that trend). It's not an earth-shattering article, but one that I think is heartening. Growing your own is one of the bigger changes you can make in your life and it's neat that so many people are giving it an effort. Even if the following point is well taken:

"Thrilled as gardening experts are about this phenomenon, they know that many first timers don’t have any idea how much sweat equity is involved."

I had some idea...but it was still a shock how easily neglect can lead to failure.