Dear MMN Participant, 

Congratulations to the three winners of our prize drawing! Meatless Monday Needham randomly selected three winners from among the 146 households that took the Meatless Monday Needham pledge by October 31. Each of the three received a Purple Carrot plant-based meal kit to give them some delicious assistance on their next meatless meals. Congratulations to winners Carolyn McKee, Janet Baum, and Amy Schaffer, and thanks to Purple Carrot for its generous donation.  

INGREDIENT FOCUS:

Meatless Monday Needham Frozen Veggie Burger Taste Test
 
The Meatless Monday Needham Committee gathered recently (outdoors and socially distanced) for a veggie burger taste test. Six people tasted five brands of frozen veggie burgers available from Trader Joe’s and Roche Bros/Sudbury Farms.
 
The five brands included Trader Joe’s Vegetable Masala Burger, Dr. Praeger’s California Veggie Burger, Original Veggie Bubba Burger, Trader Joe’s Thai Sweet Chili Veggie Burger, and Trader Joe's Quinoa Cowboy Veggie Burgers.
 
Trader Joe’s Masala Burger was first choice, and Quinoa Cowboy came in second. The choices were based solely on the taste test, without regard to ingredients, nutritional value, etc. All were prepared the same way and tasters were blinded as to which brands they were tasting until voting was completed.

Frozen veggie burgers are usually found in the frozen foods section of grocery stores, but, ironically, may be in the meat section.
 
Veggie burgers can of course be made at home and there are many recipes and a range of ingredients. Here is a recipe for Supreme Crispy Quinoa Vegetable Burgers from the Meatless Monday website. 

What’s your favorite? Let us know your favorite prepared veggie burgers or homemade recipes on the Meatless Monday Facebook page.

LOCAL NEWS AND EVENTS:

Good news for lovers of local vegetables! Volante Farms has just added a large new storage cooler for homegrown produce. Co-owner Teri Volante Boardman says Volante Farms has “built a 325 square foot cooler to store our homegrown root veggies. Throughout the winter we will be able to take out what we need little by little, allowing the veggies to stay nice and fresh!”  With the new cooler in place, shoppers will have access to a steady supply of homegrown celery root, carrots, beets, parsnips and leeks.

WEB RESOURCE REVIEW:

You Are Contributing to Reducing Global Warming—Really!
 
A major study published in the highly respected journal Science takes a deep dive into the role of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) from agricultural sources in meeting the Paris Agreement’s climate goals. The Agreement aims to keep global temperature rise this century well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius. The authors conclude that we must reduce emissions caused by our global food system if we hope to meet these targets. 
 

While reaching the Paris goals has primarily emphasized reducing GHG emissions by limiting fossil fuel burning, the study predicts that this will not be enough, because of the enormous effect the global food system has on GHG emissions. 
 
Major sources of agricultural emissions include deforestation and land clearing, fertilizer overuse and gassy livestock, all of which are increasing as the global population increases. The authors conclude that the most effective way to reduce the impact of the food system is to switch toward more plant-rich diets, which reduce the demand for meat, especially beef. Our individual meal choices can reduce the demand for more grazing land and animal food production.
 

Author Dr. Jason Hill, a professor at the University of Minnesota, told the New York Times that the study did not consider potential shifts like the entire world population adopting a vegan diet. “We wanted to present the ones that were realistic goals,” he said. “A plant-rich diet is a realistic goal. We’re not saying in this paper to hit these targets we have to give up animal products. But there need to be some dietary shifts toward the healthier diets.” Dr. Michael Clark, lead author and researcher at the University of Oxford, added “Every person has a role to play, every corporation as well. Through collective action and political will we can actually do this pretty rapidly.”

So, you are making an impact. Meatless Monday strives to give people a focus and common goal to reduce meat consumption and improve the health of ourselves and our world. We encourage everyone to expand Meatless Mondays beyond the 12-week pledge and to multiple days of the week.

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to see dishes prepared by your Needham neighbors and to share yours!