Last week I wrote about food swaps we're starting this Jan as part of our goal to reduce our annual GHG's (greenhouse gas emissions) by 2.5tCO2e. A big contributor for us is what we eat, and the single biggest change we could make to our diet was swapping beef for pork (remember - beef herds are, on average, a whopping eight times the emissions per kg of pig meat and ten times that of poultry).
What we've swapped - did they like it?
Since the new year we've tackled three standard household faves containing beef. There's been some mixed reactions, so lets break it down!
1. Chilli two out of three ain't bad
Ah, the good ol' chilli con carne. So versatile! Make the mince & veg mix, eat with rice, corn chips or in tacos, reinvent leftovers as nachos or stuffed spuds. I love it and the kids love it - its tasty, works with a range of different veg and I manage to get the kids eating beans too. I would normally whip this up with beef mince and all the usual (capcisum, tomatoes, onion, kidney beans and more) but swapped for pork mince this time around. I'd be happy to go meat free on this dish but for the kids that's going to take a bit longer.
I thought it tasted (and looked) same as normal, but Miss 10 swore beef was better and had some minor complaints. Mr 8, my BFF & her boy downed it happily served with rice and guacamole and had it again for leftovers on night 2. Overall, I still count this swap a success.
2. Spag Bol straight out winner
A much-loved classic in many an Australian household, I would usually make MidGreen's version of spaghetti bolognaise (well, its curly pasta bolognaise in our house) with half beef, half pork mince and instead swapped for straight pork mince.
This one was a straight out winner, best ever (as declared by Miss 10). Standard recipe, added some fresh basil and parsley from the garden (because I haven't killed them all yet, despite the heat). We paired it with the organic tomato and spinach zoo pasta from Source foods, because it's fun.
I have a friend who regularly cooks up 800g of beef mince in their spag bol every fortnight (teenagers!). Even swapping to a 50/50 beef and pork mix will reduce their household emissions by around 1tCO2e a year. Thats a staggering reduction for a basically unnoticeable change in diet!
Overall, its a winner, winner, pork dinner.
3. BBQ sausages
Summertime holidays go hand in hand with a sausage sizzle. Not the most frequent element of our diet but still, one to test the swap. We went with chicken sausages and well, it was ok. Weird to say but they tasted good, quite healthy? You know when you actually want to cut the grease with some sugary tomato sauce and buttered white bread? I enjoy chicken sausages anyway but will have to test again in the wintery months when a good bangers, mash & onion gravy would normally go down a treat.
We might be giving up beef as part of our regular diet, but hey, a Bunnings snag every blue moon may not be off the cards.
Verdict: Pretty easy, here to stay
So far, its been pretty easy to get myself and the kids off beef. Does it mean I will never eat a steak again? No! I'm still keen for burgers and I think the odd indulgence every couple of months is a more realist change than never eating them again. I will also mix it up and add a beef meal back into rotation every month or so for the kids. But I can't with good conscious eat beef regularly knowing the environmental impact and that there are easy replacements out there. We only swapped for other meat and haven't even tackled into plant-based options (apart from indulging in 'impossible' burgers - yum btw) so those can be on the cards in the future.
We just got back from a few nights at Ferguson Valley Farmstay, where we got licked by a bunch of hungry cows during their feeding time. It was slimy yet super fun and reminded me what beautiful animals they are. I like them, we just don't need to have over a billion (and counting) of them on the planet.
The population of cattle continues to grow, due to demand for meat and milk. This is despite cattle estimated to be responsible for around 18% of all greenhouse gas emissions contributing to global warming. MidGreenFamily will continue to be lovers, not regular eaters, of cows as part of our journey to netzero.
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