Amanda Middaugh

As wealth increases so does meat consumption. Meat can get expensive. Meat, especially beef, has negative affects on our environment and living conditions of animals. Some meat has negative effects on health, like increased risks of heart disease or diabetes. For me personally, red or greasy meat often gives me a stomach ache.

According to the website my household carbon footprint is 3.42 tons every month, which is crazy to me. After researching more, some ways I found to reduce carbon is to use more energy efficient appliances and light bulbs, eat less meat, carpool or bike more often, turning lights and electronics off when they're not in use, and washing laundry with cold water. Washing with cold water and eating less meat are things that I will be more conscious of doing now.

I cooked mussels for the first time and they turned out amazingly. I put 1/4 cup of white wine, a good squeeze of lemon juice and 1lb mussels in a covered pan over medium high heat for about 3 minutes. The mussles will open up once they are done cooking. I then added the musssels and leftover liquids to some Spanish rice. I would definitely make this again.