This is the 3rd Green Me Vegetarian Challenge of 2008. The goal behind the vegetarian challenge is to encourage frequent meat eaters to try vegetarian living for one week. We all know that meat production requires more resources and has a far greater impact on the environment. If all Americans ate veggie just a few days per week we would save an immense amount of resources, animal suffering, and significantly reduce our carbon footprint.

Last November the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) released a report on Climate Change, in which they implicated meat production (that of livestock, chickens, turkeys, etc.) as responsible for “18% of greenhouse gas emissions. ” Livestock production also uses a huge amount of water (8% of all human water usage) and is responsible for the destruction of forests and wildlife habitat around the globe. To top it off eating less meat and increasing your consumption of vegetables and whole grains is good for your health. Vegetarian diets have been found to reduce the risk for Coronary Artery Disease, Type II Diabetes, High Cholesterol and High Blood Pressure.

So jump on board and join the Vegetarian Challenge to eat VG this week. Let us know your VG pledge in the comments and how often you plan on eating VG. To join the challenge you need to eat VeGetarian a minimum of 3 days this week! Please feel free to save the “I ate VG” image above and link back to the challenge. And, please forward this post to friends and family!

Happy Eating!