Veggiedag

Via Corby Kummer's "Fresh Feeds, " news that Ghent, Belgium's quirky Second City, has announced "a regular weekly meatless day, in which civil servants and elected councillors will opt for vegetarian meals."

I think this is particularly cool, and not just because I'm tickled that example-setting is considered a viable policy method by Belgian public officeholders - though that I certainly am. It's interesting to watch vegetarianism shift from an animal-rights movement to an environmental one (although I don't doubt that most vegatarians would assure me that the link between meat consumption and environmental degredation has been well-known, just not well-publicized, for decades), and I personally find it empowering.

A growing interest in food policy, and a good influence of a roommate, has helped me evolve into a what I like to think of as a thoughtful omnivore across the recent year or so, and I think it's helpful as a consumer to know that I don't have to foreswear the occasional Good Stuff Eatery (locally sourced!) farmhouse burger to bring my meat consumption - and with it, my carbon and water footprint - closer to what the rest of the globe considers normal. Cheers to Ghent for spreading the word.

And perhaps there's real-vegetarian hope for me yet, as the local Safeway's tragic closing has forced Steve and I to keep costs down at Whole Foods by expanding our meatless cooking repertoire. Last Saturday's chickpea-sweet potato coconut curry proved about as crave-able as anything we've ever made that once moo'ed.