This post is part of our Fall Blog Blitz! For the next few weeks, we’ll be bringing you special posts in support of our Slow Food Fall Membership Campaign. Come back often for more recipes, photos, tips, and resources as we celebrate Slow Food in all its forms!

Slow Food membership supports sustainable food production, teaching children how to grow food, preserving traditional foods, and celebrating food cultures. Together we are linking the pleasure of good food with a commitment to local communities and the environment. There is a place for you at our table here in our local Seattle chapter. Join now!

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In June of this year, delegates - ranchers, butchers, policy makers, and others - from across the country came together to discuss possibilities for sustainable and humane meat production at the Slow Meat Symposium in Denver.

As a result of the conversations, Slow Food USA has summed up the recommendations as eating BETTER and LESS meat. Here are some highlights from recent Slow Food USA posts on this new initiative.

Eating BETTER MEAT creates:

Improved working environment for producers and quality of life for animals
More complex and delicious flavors
Animal and plant diversity in the field
Healthier local food economies

And eating LESS MEAT creates:

Opportunities to explore the flavors of vegetables, grains, and culinary traditions from many cultures
Resilient ecosystems, less threatened by environmental damage
Frugality and inspiration in the kitchen
Healthier eaters

As noted in a post on the Slow Food USA blog after the event, "not every delegate immediately supported the idea of encouraging everyone to eat less meat." But the thinking is that by "reducing the amount of meat people eat [supports] sustainable meat producers by allowing their customers to spend a little bit more for their products. And considering that the vast majority of meat that is sold and bought in this country is industrially produced in unsustainable ways, cutting back meat consumption can reduce the environmental and health risks associated with that production system."

We'll be postings more about this Better, Less campaign as each of the five different stages kicks off. For now, we're bringing some Meatless Monday ideas so stay tuned today for a tasty idea from a local cookbook author!

Slow Meat: Better Meat, Less Meat