Rob, I owe you an apology.

Approximately six hundred months ago you asked me for ideas on how to nudge your family in more of a plant-forward direction, and as is typical (at least for me), your email was so goddamn important to me that I never made time to respond to it.

Good news, though: so many readers loved and responded to my “Why I Don’t Eat Animals” post last year, and constantly write in asking about food-related topics, that we decided to turn it into a whole thing.

Enter: How To Eat More Plants.

Today’s post is more of a macro introduction to the why and how of the “eat more plants (and consequently) fewer animals” lifestyle.

Deep-dives on how to eat fewer animals, by type, including meat/beef/pork, chicken/turkey, dairy, and fish (and humans! Can’t forget humans) will follow in subsequent posts.

My overall goal is to help you — someone who already gives a shit for one reason or another — understand why eating more plants and fewer animals is intersectional as hell.

It’s:

That said, without a proper guide, the road can be treacherous, as various hobgoblins lie in ambush, including:

For each animal family, I will provide not only context for the why, but also tiers of the how — beginner, intermediate, and expert.

I will share with you the easiest ways and my favorite ways to make plant-foods at home (if it requires any prep at all), my favorite ways and places to eat out, tricks, tips, and all kinds of other Action Steps you’ve come to expect from us here.

But why?

Eat as many different colors of actual plants as possible, every day.

The oceans will thank you (less heat to absorb), the atmosphere will thank you (less methane), the soil will thank you (more varied crops), your immune system will thank you (less antibiotics in your food), and you better believe your gut and your poop will definitely thank you.

You have never, ever had poops like plant-based poops.

As you’ll discover, this One Rule is both crystal clear, and a bit of a choose-your-own-adventure sort of thing. Because while I have long and cherished experience drowning mushrooms and brussels sprouts in olive oil, salt, and pepper and then broiling them to within an inch of their lives, you may have never eaten either of these, or prefer, say, a few gallons of hummus, peas, tofu, grilled squash, roasted cauliflower, or — the world’s greatest food — sweet potato.

Or you might not have any idea yet! Which is also great!

Never fear. While some rules like the One Rule are made to achieve 80/20 outcomes, there’s also some grey (gray? YMMV) area to explore, and that’s where my “beginner” tier will go. For example, subbing in Beyond Burgers for ones made of cows.

Are they “good” for you? Of course not.

Are cow burgers worse in every conceivable measure? You betcha.

Can you cover them in sautéed mushrooms and caramelized onions to the point where they taste exactly the same? You can!

My goal, whatever level you’re at, will be to meet you at the intersection of:

…which is simply for you, and all of us, to eat way less fucking meat.

But why?

We’ll go into more detail for each animal group (though not too much — again, you already give a shit, I’m just giving more varied reasons to support your quest), but there are three main categories that make eating animals a threat multiplier, and eating plants chock full of tasty co-benefits.

We have a hell of a lot of people to feed.

More than ever before! Sure, we might be nudging close to the peak, but that’s a different story/problem.

We use almost 40% of the earth’s land surface to grow and produce food for 8.1 billion people — and to feed our animals.

Land, you may recall, is only 30%-ish of the planet (shout out to the ocean), so there’s not as much to work with as you think.

Our food system also requires an astronomical amount of water (much of which the meat industry poisons), and while the Green Revolution saved/improved billions of lives, making food is now responsible for a full ¼ of global greenhouse gas emissions.

Here’s how it breaks down:

Further, from Project Drawdown:

Looking at this you can understand how eating more plants and way less meat is maybe the perfect intersection of “What can I do?” and “What do we need to do?” It breaks down every personal vs systemic barrier.

More from Project Drawdown:

How it breaks down, from Our World in Data:

Before you ask “Actually it’s the food transport, you should eat local”, that’s great, I love my farmer’s market, but no.

But here’s the thing:

Because people who are not subscribed to this newsletter fucking haaaaaaate being told to eat less meat and/or drive smaller murder-trucks, we have far fewer institutional options for reinventing the industry, like we do for, say, fossil fuels.

So it’s on us.

Which, honestly, is pretty refreshing, because eating more plants and less meat (but really, fewer animals overall) is among the most impactful things we can do for ourselves (and for our communities, too).

It’s not actually just about eating less meat, however much meat is the final boss, and however much colon cancer rates are on the rise for younger people in the US.

It’s about eating real food — whole foods, that mostly come out of the ground. So fewer animals, but also less “ultra-processed food”.

Is the jury still out on how bad ultra-processed foods are for you? Sort of!

Are paleo diets the answer? Of course not! Don’t be a moron.

But who cares about any of that shit when we’re pretty pretty pretty sure eating a “planetary health diet” — basically, the Mediterranean diet — will go a long ass way towards a livable planet and make you healthier?

The receipts are beginning to come in. From The LA Times:

So not only are you less likely to die from 40 different things, the vegan cat’s out of the bag: going plant-based can also help you get swoll.

Great! So what’s the problem?

Well, groceries are still expensive as hell, and food companies do not want you to buy plants.

And most of us have no idea how a healthy gut really feels. With a few exceptions, this is how we’ve been eating our entire lives. High blood pressure? Digestive issues? Shitty sleep? Weird skin stuff? Terrified of future cognitive issues?

Welcome to the party! The water is warm.*

*it’s come to my attention this isn’t a great metaphor anymore. Also applicable: “a rising tide lifts all boats”, “cooking with gas”, and others. Son of a bitch.

Anyways!

The other reason you’ve never really had a healthy gut — besides industry-lobbying — is because medical school offers extremely scant nutritional education.

Which is wild, because food is what we put into our body to survive?

Question mark?

We’ll go into specific details more in later posts, but while a plant-based diet isn’t going to make you invincible, transitioning into one can do a lot to reduce your susceptibility to our biggest issues:

Is a plant-based diet as affordable as it should be? No, of course not, we always subsidize the dumb stuff. But the really healthy stuff like legumes are more affordable than you think, and ounce for ounce, plant-based protein is usually as or more affordable than the animal version — without the heart attacks! Remember — the indirect costs are always worth accounting for.

You know who else is conscious and has a reduced life expectancy? That’s right. This guy! 👇

Again, details in later posts, but:

Whether you believe in the “dominion” bullshit or not, there is no doubt we have exploited our planet’s incalculably precious ecosystems about as far as they can tolerate.

We have to do the math, accept responsibility, and begin to right the ship — for everyone involved.

From Ferris Jabr’s wonderful new book, Becoming Earth:

One Action Step isn’t going to solve everything, but eating more plants and fewer animals is really among — if not the — most impactful steps you and your community can take to feel better, reduce emissions, and save the animals, too.

More to come.