Try the Great American Meatout

If you have ever thought about trying to live lighter on this planet, want to explore the ethical reasons to eater lower on the food chain, or perhaps just want to lose some weight and get healthier. Eating a meatless diet could be the answer. Try it out for just one day and see how it feels.

Join millions of Americans who plan to abstain from eating meat for one day in celebration of the Great American Meatout — held the first day of spring next Tuesday, March 20. 

Since its inception in 1985, the "meatout" concept has grown and taken hold, from a once a year event to a newer weekly version dubbed "Meatless Mondays." This grassroots campaign promotes the health and environmental benefits of going meatless — even if only for one day. Since most people would agree that foregoing the burger for just one day is not asking too much, it has gained acceptance even with mainstream American eaters.

Of course you won’t reap huge health benefits in that a single day, but some people swear they feel a difference. It’s not even that radical a concept when you think about all the vegetarian foods that are probably already in your diet.  How many times have you eaten a cheese pizza, bean burrito or macaroni and cheese? Peanut butter or hummus sandwich? Cereal or pancakes for breakfast? 

If you are already there, or that sounds too easy, push the envelope a bit and try to go vegan for a day. That means no meat, dairy or cheese, eggs or other animal by-products (e.g. gelatin, honey, or whey). Makes it a little harder but still very do-able. How about oatmeal for breakfast, a salad with beans for lunch (skip the ranch dressing) and spaghetti with marinara and roasted vegetables for dinner. Interested? For more information about the meatout and some great recipe ideas check out: www.meatout.org and www.livevegan.org. 

We’re hearing more and more about the health benefits of eating more fruit, vegetables and whole grains and less meat. I don’t think anyone can argue against that.

In Healdsburg most people think of when they think of "vegetarian." Although they will probably close soon due to a business-wide , they are still open and will be for several weeks at least.

Still, most restaurants in town can accommodate a meatless diet: after all, it's part of "California cuisine." Usually you can find meat alternative dishes at Asian or Indian restaurants, such as or .

Elsewhere, Sonoma County is rich with restaurants that cater to the vegetarian crowd. A few that you might want to try are The Slice of Life in Sebastopol, Lydia’s Kitchen in Petaluma and Gaia’s in Santa Rosa.

Let’s see if we can’t get this county to go meat-free for just one day: Tuesday, March 20. It might just start a new trend!