Montreal doctors' breakthrough discovery about causes of cerebral palsy giving hope
A breakthrough discovery made by doctors at the Montreal Children's Hospital about the causes of cerebral palsy is giving new hope to one West Island family.
Eating less meat and dairy is one of the ways we can have a positive impact on the future of the planet, as multiple studies on climate change have demonstrated.
But as anyone who is holding on to an unused gym membership can tell you, getting a new habit to stick isn't that simple. Rather than an all-or-nothing approach, however, the best course of action might be to take it one step (or one meal) at a time.
If you've ever tried Meatless Monday, vegan before 6, or any other not-vegan-all-the-time method in an effort to reduce your meat consumption, you're probably on your way to becoming a planetarian.
Planetarian Life is a website and online community founded by food writer and communications consultant Maggy Keet as a choose-your-own-adventure way of plant-based eating. The flexible strategy she sets forth through recipe "formulas" is intended to help ease people into a more plant-rich diet.
After the birth of her second child in 2019, Keet was motivated to make changes by the thought of what kind of world her children were inheriting. "I was literally awake in the middle of the night having climate anxiety," she said. "I just brought this person into the world -- what does her future look like? What does my son's future look like?"
As a member of a food-focused family, Keet grew up with a firsthand knowledge of recipe development and testing. Her mother, Pam Anderson, is a veteran cookbook author and event planner.
Together, she and Keet have collaborated on projects over the years, such as the blog and book "Three Many Cooks" and the food media conference The Big Potluck.
Keet started the seeds of Planetarian Life based on her experiences doing Meatless Monday, but with fewer restrictions and a larger sense of purpose. "There's vegetarianism and veganism, but these things don't describe my why," she said. "I'm eating this way for the planet."
That's the most basic definition of who a planetarian is, according to Keet: someone who is changing the way they eat and live for the good of the Earth.
"I want it to be a very inclusive definition," she explained. "It's intentionally vague, instead of making it specifically about reducing meat and dairy consumption -- some people aren't going to give up cheese no matter what." As Keet notes in the Planetarian Life mission statement: "There is no right or wrong, no judgment, and no 'good' or 'bad' foods. (This is not a diet!)"
Keet acknowledges that "there's a hurdle to be cleared" to help regular cooks both shift their perspectives and navigate the logistics of getting meals on the table every day. "The challenge to reinvent the way people do mealtime sounds daunting and time-consuming," she said.
With Planetarian Life, Keet decided to take a small-steps approach. Instead of a straightforward recipe site, she worked with Anderson to create the Capsule Kitchen, a mix-and-match collection of versatile recipe formulas, ingredient bases and how-to tutorials to give plant-curious cooks a lot of points of entry.
Instead of cutting out meat entirely or working with unfamiliar ingredients, planetarian eating works around making small replacements in your usual meals on your own schedule and to your own preferred tastes.
This can be as simple as using chickpeas instead of rotisserie chicken to make chickpea "chicken" salad or cooking a big batch of quinoa to keep on hand for quick skillet vegetable bowls throughout the week.
For those who don't know where to begin, Keet's adjustable recipes let cooks build with the basics -- "assembling food instead of cooking big meals," she calls it -- and give flavor-changing options to make people feel like they are not eating the same thing every day of the week.
"We offer people the root formula, a stripped-down version, and variations to inspire them with the idea that if you have any spices, any type of onion, you can make this recipe," she said.
Try these three ways to start eating a more plant-rich diet:
Like compound interest, the incremental tweaks made to familiar meals add up to a bigger lifestyle change over time -- and they are easier to stick with than drastic cuts. Because no foods are banned from the planetarian way of eating, it's up to every individual to take it as far as they want to go.
Whether your new routine becomes bean tacos on Tuesdays, honey in your tea instead of cane sugar, or dairy-free mac and cheese for Friday family dinner, it's your decision.
"So much of the narrative about climate action is about sacrifice and reducing and giving things up," Keet said, but she sees the Planetarian Life strategy as one of addition, not subtraction. "Planetarian Life is a compass, not a map: It orients you in the right direction," Keet said.
A breakthrough discovery made by doctors at the Montreal Children's Hospital about the causes of cerebral palsy is giving new hope to one West Island family.
Warnings of up to 60 millimetres of rain and other alerts have been issued for seven Canadian provinces and one territory ahead of the Easter weekend.
An Ontario man who built a garage on his property has been locked in a battle with his electricity provider for a year and half over a severed power line.
Austin Hunter Turner died in 2017, on a night that his mother has rewound and replayed again and again, trying to make sense of what happened.
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
The Canada Revenue Agency announced Thursday it will not require 'bare trust' reporting from Canadians that it introduced for the 2024 tax season, just four days before the April 2 deadline.
The estate of minimalist contemporary artist Donald Judd filed a lawsuit against Kardashian this week, claiming the fashion and beauty mogul promoted 'cheap knockoffs' of his furniture designs.
The spring allergy season has started early in many parts of Canada, with high levels of pollen in some cities already. Experts weigh in on which areas have it worse so far this season.
Louis Gossett Jr., the first Black man to win a supporting actor Oscar and an Emmy winner for his role in the seminal TV miniseries 'Roots,' has died. He was 87.
B.C. conservation officers recently seized a nine-foot-long Burmese python from a home in Chilliwack.
A New Brunswicker will go to bed Thursday night much richer than he was Wednesday after collecting on a winning lottery ticket he let sit on his bedroom dresser for nearly a year.
The Ontario government is introducing changes to auto-insurance, but some experts say the move is ill-advised.
A Toronto restaurant introduced a surprising new rule that reduced the cost of a meal and raised the salaries of staff.
Newfoundland’s unique version of the Pine Marten has grown out of its threatened designation.
A Toronto man is out $12,000 after falling victim to a deepfake cryptocurrency scam that appeared to involve Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
It started small with a little pop tab collection to simply raise some money for charity and help someone — but it didn’t take long for word to get out that 10-year-old Jace Weber from Mildmay, Ont. was quickly building up a large supply of aluminum pop tabs.
There’s a group of people in Saskatoon that proudly call themselves dumpster divers, and they’re turning the city’s trash into treasure.
Ontario is facing a larger than anticipated deficit but the Doug Ford government still plans to balance its books before the next provincial election.