Dyfal Donc i dyr y Garreg

Apologies to anyone who can't read Welsh, and rest assured that 'Dyfal donc i dyr y garreg' isn't offensive. At least, my Welsh tutor told me it isn't. The phrase translates into English as 'It's a steady tapping that breaks the stone', and I thought it an apt mantra to adopt whilst tackling my latest challenge. Having been a vegetarian for the past seventeen(ish) years, I know a few facts about the impact our diet has on the environment. However, I'm always keen to broaden my knowledge, and with that in mind, last week I watched the Planeat film (www.planeat.tv). According to the scientists in Planeat the less animal-based foods and the more plant-based foods you eat the better, both on a health and environmental level. Their mission is to create awareness of the benefits of a plant-based diet, encourage consumers to reduce their meat and dairy consumption and be inspired by plant-based cuisine.
Already being a vegetarian, I fully admit that at the start of the film I was quitely confident that my diet was already pretty environmentally friendly. I was soon brought down a peg or two though, when Gidon Eshel, prof. of Physics and Geosciences at Bard College, explained that vegetarian diets aren't actually that much better than an average omnivore diet, and in fact a poultry-based diet can have less impact on the environment. This is due to us veggies tending to over-compensate by eating more dairy products and eggs. Which brings me neatly to another important message that I learnt from Planeat. In the Western world we are brought up to believe that we should eat lots of animal-based protein.The research of T Colin Campbell shows that too much protein from an animal-based diet is damaging to our health (As you may have guessed already, I'm no scientist, so please watch the film or visit the website for a more coherent explanation of this theory).
So, where am I going with this? I'm not saying that I'm going to turn vegan overnight, but what I am interested in, though, is to see if it's possible to make small changes towards the Planeat philosophy. I will use the free-range carrots blog to chart my ups and down, and also to share any tips and plant-based recipes that I come across. And I'll take it one small step at a time, because as we say in Wales 'Dyfal donc i dyr y garreg'.