The Stewardship of OMD

A few months ago, my husband Bob and I heard an interview with Suzy Amis Cameron. She was talking about her book, The OMD Plan. We were already doing several things at home to lessen our footprints on our planet. OMD is one more step we have taken.

OMD stands for One Meal a Day. No, don’t panic! It’s not about limiting the number of meals a day, but changes what we eat from meat-based to plant-based foods only. Yep…that means no meat, dairy, eggs, or fish for just one meal a day! We found it easy to substitute a few foods at first. Breakfast was easy. There are so many fruits and veggies. And now there are plenty of plant-based entrees in the freezer section at the grocery.

So why? Animal products use an incredible amount of resources to produce—water, feed, land, and transportation. Here’s some data that amazed me. To produce one pound of beef requires about 1,800 gallons of water. One pound of pork takes 575 gallons. Made me look differently at my burger. Hmm…where did that meat come from? All of a sudden, I’m thinking about climate change, global warming, and the rain forests in South America, burned and leveled to provide grazing for beef cattle. Then there is the transportation of those animal products.

As a comparison, the water footprint of soybeans is 216 gallons per pound; corn is 108 gallons. However, to produce just one almond nut, it takes one gallon of water. And I think of how I toss them down by the handful and sprinkle them on my salad.

Burger King and White Castle now have their "impossible burger" for sale, which is plant-based instead of meat. They are really tasty! You can also buy them at Kroger.

There’s so much more to learn in Suzy Cameron’s book and website. There are lots of vegan recipes online. We are considering sharing more information following meeting for worship in the future. Be watching for more information. If you have any questions, please ask me. Obviously, this is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. So, for our health, the health of the planet, and in keeping with our Quaker testimony of stewardship—OMD.

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1 Comment

  1. Jeff Arnold | | Reply

    Thanks Debbie. This is such a nice approach- we don’t all have to become vegans overnight; this is way to ease into responsible eating that makes sense to me.

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