Posts Tagged ‘Fewer Cows’

Earth Day Stew

Thursday, April 23rd, 2020

One of the ways to celebrate Earth Day Every Day is to eat lower on the food chain. Several years ago, Nutrition Action posted an article entitled, “Fewer Cows, More Vegetables,” by Robert Lawrence, founding director for a Livable Future at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore. I saved it because it seemed a very useful article about greenhouse gases and food production.

In this article was a pie chart that showed U.S. Greenhouse Gases from Food and here is the list from the pie chart, but basically, as the article stated, “beef, pork, and dairy contribute far more greenhouse gases than fruit, grains, and vegetables.”

Red Meat contributes                       29%                            
Dairy Products contributes             17%
Cereals/Carbs contribute                 10%
Fruit/Vegetables contribute            10%
Chicken, Fish/Eggs contribute       10%
Beverages   contribute                        9%
Oils/Sweets/Condiments cont.        6%
Other contributes                               10%

As you can see, Red Meat and Dairy contribute most of the greenhouse gases in their production.

(This equals 101, because these may be approximates, not exact amounts. es)

So for Earth Day I made a Cabbage Stew that took minutes to make and was very tasty. And it is a Cooking by the Strings of Your Apron Dish, so you can use whatever veggies you have in your fridge.


(The blurry part on the left is the steam coming from the stew. es)

Utensils: Cutting board and knife; strainer; wide , shallow pot for stewing
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 10 minutes
Categories: Vegan, Gluten Free, Paleo (if no added rice)


1- 1 1/2 cups pure water or soup stock
(Organic) Cabbage
Org. Carrot, squash, or sweet/white potato
Org. Leek or onion
Org. Chard or kale
Spices, such as salt, curry powder or za’atar
Cut Okra (optional)

* Cabbage is on the Clean 15 list from EWG, so organic is not absolutely necessary.(See yesterday’s posting of the Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen from my Earth Day posting.)


1. Place water or soup stock in pot and put heat at medium. As you cut the veggies, toss them into the pot, so that by the time the softest veggies are in, you will need only about 5 minutes more.

2. Wash and cut carrot, squash or potato into small pieces. Place in the pot and add one garlic clove, minced and a slice of fresh ginger, minced.

3. Take 4 or 5 leaves of cabbage, wash and cut into bite-sized squares.

4. Add sliced leek or onion (one small).

5. Wash and slice kale or chard into smaller pieces and add to the pot.

6. Finally, if using, add sliced okra as a thickener.

7. Cook about 10 minutes in total or until harder veggies can be pieced with a fork.

Variation: For a thicker stew, add some pre-cooked rice or quinoa.
Yield: About 2 servings as a main dish or 3-4 as a side dish.