The Red, White, and Green

Photo via Flickr: Terren in Virginia

Looking for a bit of inspiration to join the Meatless Monday movement in 2010? Here’s a holiday reading list that will help jump-start you toward the cause. Don’t worry, though: This isn’t a compendium of scare tactic stories meant to ruin your Christmas dinner; in the nonjudgmental spirit of Meatless Monday, these books are fascinating reads for wanna-be veggies and hardcore meat-lovers alike.

So take a trip to your local library, download one of these to your brand-new Kindle (lucky you!), or buy a copy for a loved one as a last-minute stocking stuffer. Here, our Top 5 foods for thought:

1. The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals
Michael Pollan journeys the US to uncover the environmental, political, and ethical impact of four different meals (fast food, industrial organic, grass-fed, and hunted/gathered) in this now-classic.

2. The Flexitarian Diet
Have a hankering for tofu stir-fry but still can’t imagine giving up that hot dog at a baseball game? You don’t have to, as registered dietitian and author Dawn Jackson Blatner outlines in this reasonable approach to (mostly meatless) eating that will help you lose weight and live a long, healthy life.

3. Eating Animals
Celebrated novelist Jonathan Safran Foer (Everything Is Illuminated, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close) takes a profound and surprisingly entertaining look at the horrors of factory farming and his own meat-eating history in his first foray into nonfiction.

4. The Kind Diet: A Simple Guide to Feeling Great, Losing Weight, and Saving the Planet
Anyone who questions the health benefits of eating a plant-based diet need only look at author Alicia Silverstone’s clear skin, shiny hair, and enviable figure. And while you might not be ready to embrace her full-on devotion to a vegan diet, this book is chock-full of inspiring ideas and yummy recipes that will help get you started.

5. Food Rules
Alright, so it’s another Michael Pollan book and it won’t be released until Dec. 29, but I’m jumping on the pre-order bandwagon for this much-anticipated guide to sustainable eating that I’m guessing will follow his “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants” philosophy.

–Jennifer Grayson

Do this now: After you’ve finished reading your book, don’t just stash it on a shelf: Pass it along to a friend or family member (unless it has to go back to the library, of course).

More Meatless Monday posts:
Meatless Monday: Sweet potato latkes
Meatless Monday: Crustless rainbow chard quiche

Like this post? Subscribe to The Red, White, and Green RSS feed