Alice Lam (6)

This meatless Monday campaign has been an eye-opener and has been very fun for me.
Looking back I remember the challenge and struggle I had during my first week of
meatless Monday. My daily diet contains meat, so it was hard getting use to not eating
meat for a whole day. It was hard seeing my friends and other students eating meat. It
would also be easier if the family did not eat meat. My sisters and I would sometimes
take pictures of the meal we cooked or had and they would contain meat. What made the
challenge difficult as well are that there is many food stores on campus that sell food with
meat? I don’t think UB has enough vegetarian food and we should do something about it.
UB should also have more vending machines that contain healthy food, like fruits. I
remember in class, someone mentioned that these healthy vending machines were just
hidden where no one will find it.
     I learned a lot for the past few weeks of meatless Monday. In class and through the
campaign I learned that eating meat like chicken, pigs, cows, and fish are harmful to our
environment. I learned through some of the meatless Monday that consuming meat
causes about 18% of global emission (carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide) from
livestock. To deal with climate changes that we witness now, we need to start thinking
about the way we eat, that is shifting toward a vegan diet or going meatless Monday.   I
also learned that meatless Monday could help save a lot of money because meat tends to
be more expensive. I also felt very healthy doing this campaign. This campaign also
encouraged me to increase my diet of plant-based food.
     During my meatless Monday, I have tried and learned about different types of food
and ways to prepare/cook it. I know some of the students made some wonderful dishes in
their blog. One of the dishes I never tried was couscous (ate this during our field trip) and
I began looking up recipes for it. I made couscous with garlic, onion, tomatoes, and tofu.
I made some for my friend who also never had couscous before and he loved it. Another
food that was new to me was bulgur wheat on Daniel’s blog. I was so interested that I did
a lot of research on the health benefits of it and some recipes. Found out that bulgur
wheat is 100 percent whole wheat, which makes it faster to cook. It is a good source of
fiber, protein, and iron. This meatless Monday is a great way to learn so many healthy
recipes and food.
     Overall, I think everyone should participate in the meatless Monday campaign for a
couple of weeks. I know its hard, but there are many benefits to it. A tip I would give to
future classes applying this meatless Monday public health campaign is to plan your meal
before your start. When you plan your meal you know what to eat ahead of time. Meal
planning is a great way to help give you more time, save money, and makes cooking
easier because you know what your cooking, Another tip is to just stay motivate about it
because that is what keeps you to continue your goal. I enjoy this campaign very much
and plan on eating less meat.

Sandna Kaur (6)

This Meatless Monday experience was an interesting one. For breakfast, I had toast, orange juice and an omelet with spinach, green peppers, onions, and cheese. I like the days when I have to go to campus for my evening classes only. This usually gives me time to make breakfast for my family and myself. Since Sunday was my brother’s and father’s birthday, we had a lot of delicious food left over to eat for lunch. So for lunch, I had ate some of the leftover Thai food that had some rice, noodles, tofu, and vegetables. Before I had to go to campus for my evening class, I had some tea and a piece of fresh fruit top cheesecake (which was the birthday cake) with my relatives that had came from New York City.

After few hours in class, I went home and ate palaak paneer (an Indian dish made of spinach and cottage cheese), yogurt, and naan for dinner.

Since I had some relatives over this week, they were curious to why I was not joining them when they were eating meat that day. So I eventually explained this course, the meatless Monday campaign, and my experience in participating in meatless Monday to my relatives. They were surprised to hear about the effect meat and some agriculture techniques have on emitting harmful gases into the atmosphere and contributing to the greenhouse effect. They had always thought industries and car being the cause of the pollution that is effecting our environment. They were impress and thought the meatless Monday campaign is a nice way for students/people to get involved in being more earth-friendly and learning different ways to help lower our carbon footprint and adapt a healthier lifestyle.

This week, the meal that was most affected was lunch because there was a lot of leftover food from my brother’s and father’s birthday dinner and I had only few vegetarian type of food that I was able to eat. I believe going meatless on Monday impact me the next day because my relatives suggested in having some meatless meals on Tuesday day in order to support of the cause of the Meatless Monday campaign. Though, it was a little difficult for them at first, they believed it was possible to not eat meat for at least one day per week. We saw meatless Monday campaign as a way of challenging ourselves in trying to substitute a meal with meat with vegetables instead. In the Meatless Monday campaign, a participant can use an old recipe that they haven’t used for a while or look up some interesting recipes they always wanted to try to cook but never got the chance to do it.

During the meatless Monday campaign I believe I spent less money because I would plan my meals, pack my lunch, and limit eating out. I want to continue supporting the Meatless Monday campaign by hopefully continuing to eat meatless for one day per week and eat meatless for at least one meal each day. I think Meatless Monday might sound like a challenge for many but it is definitely possible to overcome. The reason behind this campaign can be seen as a great one because everyone has played a hand in contributing in status of the environment around us. Thus, everyone has the ability to make a difference in changing the environment for the better.

Daniel Colin (6)

This Monday was a great Monday , everything went well. I woke up earlier than usually had scramble eggs and cinnamon raisin bagel with cream for breakfast. Found parking once I came to class and finally got a chance to get a good seat in class. For lunch I had fried rice with an eggplant. It was very delicious and filing.  I also had a mango go-go as from Jamba juice as a snack between lunch and dinner . For dinner I ate a tofu soup , which was my first time trying this. Wasn’t what I expected probably would never eat it again. But I was open to trying something new. 

Cristina Lauria (6)

This meatless Monday was alright. Not my best, not my worst. I got up around 7am because I’m starting to run every morning again. I used to do it all of the time, but have definitely been slacking. After I ran I made myself a strawberry and blackberry smoothie with almond milk and plain yogurt. For lunch around 2pm, I made a salad with sprouts, black beans, tortilla chips, and a little bit of lemon juice. For dinner, I made zucchini and pasta with some parmesan cheese sprinkled on top. No one really saw me eat so no one was effected, however, my dad called me and asked what I was eating for dinner and I told him and he said he has to try it sometime. I think I could make better recipes, but since time is always my main problem, I couldn’t really organize or spend time on different recipes. Maybe my focus should be on recipes that don’t take much planning other than shopping in advance for items. I’d like to start going to Wegmans every Sunday and having a list ready of groceries I should buy. Even if I haven’t yet planned my exact meals, it’d be much easier for me to put together recipes if I have a wide variety of foods to choose from. Overall, it was okay, I should probably start eating more because of my new schedule but I’ll adjust...eventually!

Leeah Williams (6)

Being introduced to an alternate way of living has opened my eyes to the impact I have on the globe as well as well as evolving my eating to live a healthier lifestyle. I was unaware that the thing we consumed had such a large carbon footprint and I really appreciate that meatless Mondays gave me the opportunity to take a step in a positive direction. I never thought that I could enjoy a meal without a meat option present but my experiences during this time has shifted my thought process. Just knowing that meat production is one of largest contributions to pollution on the earth encourages me to have meatless options at least 3 times a week.

These past five weeks have been very challenging but I feel victorious. I was able to alter my daily eating routine to something I was totally ignorant about. I did not know that combinations of non-meat products could fulfill the required amount of proteins you need to consume on a daily basis. Not having enough protein in my diet on these Mondays defiantly was a big challenge, this caused me to become hungry faster and just not satisfied. Living on a college campus was very difficult because there are limited meatless options. I found myself being limited to union salads, or creating my meals at home. Being a full time student balancing 25 credits, and a part time job made it very difficult for me to cook my meals. I was always tired, on a timed schedule, and never had time to think about what I was going to eat. This had a negative effect on my body because I found myself going long hours without eating, which caused me to feel weak and even worse. Planning my meals the weekend in advance defiantly was a major advantage for meatless Mondays. This allowed me to prep the food that I was going to cook on Monday and I was able to incorporate the proper grains and proteins that would balance out my meals. Participating in meatless Mondays would have been so much easier if I was home because my father and my brothers are pescertarians. My father would always cook either fish, shell fish or tofu for himself and a chicken dinner for my brother and I, so if told him that I no longer wanted to eat meat this would be very simple.

There was no food that I had ate for the first time during meatless Monday. I am usually the person stating that I want to try something at least once during my lifetime. The only things that were new to me would be the way I prepared certain items and some of the spices and sauces I used. For example cooking with soy sauce, I am not a big fan but once I added honey and a dash of brown sugar it became teriyaki sauce. This became a wonderful combination with the stir fried vegetables I made. I also added thyme to my rice which gave it an earthy mint flavor which paired well with the kale salad.

If I was to adapt a meatless diet I can see myself relating more to a Pescetarianism. It was hard enough not consuming meat for a day I am sure that I would not be able to live without seafood and dairy products.

For the upcoming classes that will be participating in meatless Monday I would suggest for them to get creative. This should not be an assignment that you are dreading like who doesn’t like food. You should go online, find recipes that you can follow or recreate it. Experiment, try something new. This is a time that you can put your taste buds to the test and explore alternate food options.

Kareema Carley (6)

This meat less Monday was the last one I will have to do for this class. I am not going to say I’m excited about killing the earth by eating meat but I’m happy I don’t have to blog any more. Well this week I had an exam on Monday so for breakfast I had breakfast burrito with just egg and cheese. For lunch I had just something super light because I was about to take an exam. So I ate yogurt with an oatmeal cookie. For dinner after the stressful test I just had Lloyd’s food truck because I really love the onions, they were at Damen from 5:30 to 7:30. I got the tricked out nachos with no meat it was great.

Coming into this class I was not thinking I would acquire the knowledge that I have. I learn many things that I was not aware of happening in the environment and I learn also more myself.  From meatless Mondays I gain the knowledge about how meat negatively impacting our planet.  Factory farming is the biggest cause of global warming on a local to a global stand point. The animal waste goes into the water causing the water supply to be contaminated, killing all of the water life and going into our own water supply.  These big companies also kill the planet by over grazing. Animals put greenhouse gases in the earth every day, the equivalent of 7.8 billion tons of carbon dioxide per year. I also learned a lot about myself. If I  had to give up meat I would become a Pescatarian. Pescatarian is a word sometimes used to describe those who abstain from eating all meat and animal flesh with the exception of fish. I would say that would be the best fit for me because I love sea food. I also learned I can eat a veggie fulfilling meal. Over all I learned a lot.

When I first start this journey I had many challenge from doubting my ability to stick through it but I learn many way to work around them.  One challenge was I hate veggies. Before this I would go weeks without eating them. I learn that not every veggie is nasty and that sometime it’s the way that they are cooked that I did not like. So in order to work around this I started doing research on different meals that I would like. I like pasta so I made pasta with my veggies. Another challenge I had  overcome was sticking with it every Monday and for this I just kind told myself this is not only good for my body but for the plant. The last challenge I would have to say is time management because veggie last for a short time and two I don’t have time to really cook while I am in school. So I found that if I took the time to plan my meal I would have time to make them.

I ate many new foods because this class. I start liking granola because meatless Monday it became my go to breakfast meal on Mondays. I also tried some new soups with a coconut base. One of my new favorite dishes would be the zucchini pasta.  I love that. I tried my best to be opened minded and try new things. I feel that future classes should make a food planner as a project so that they don’t have to plan something every week. I think this would really help in opening up their minded to new food choices. Another thing that they can do would be if they used a different book to understand the principals better. I did enjoy some parts of the book but it did not  have me really get the idea down the way I would have like to understand them.