Meatless March

I find it deeply satisfying to identify things, from unknown people in old family photographs, to the fabric content in clothing, to the weeds in my garden.  The Great Backyard Bird Count last weekend seemed, therefore, like it was designed just for me: "Spend time in your favorite places watching birds...Identify them, count them, and submit them" to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and its partners. Even better, the bird count is an annual environmental effort, "to help scientists better understand and protect birds around the world." Bundled up against the chill, and armed with binoculars, the Merlin app on my phone, and an ancient copy of "A Field Guide To The Birds,"  I set up a camp chair in my back yard. I immediately logged a grackle based on its sound recording on Merlin, and then I spotted a woodpecker, but it was gone before I had a chance to identify the species. And then...nothing. I began to get cold (it was in the 30s), and someone in the ne...

I recently cooked with harissa for the first time, and that dish was good, but then I was stuck with a jar of harissa that was still almost full. I hopped around the internet, looking for recipes to help me use it up, and that's how I came to try " Coconut Quinoa with Harissa-Roasted Sweet Potatoes " (AllRecipes). I substituted veggie stock for chicken stock, because animal agriculture is more of a driver of global warming than plant agriculture, so I minimize my meat consumption. Don't blame that substitution for the fact that this meal was a little bland. My harissa was mild, so I think it just needed a smidge of heat. I dosed it with some hot sauce. I like heat in my food, not heat trapped in the atmosphere by greenhouse gases. After almost five years of being mostly vegetarian, choosing meatless options when I cook is automatic, but I don't think anyone needs to be overly rigid about it to make an impact. If you minimize your meat intake, you're acting a...

Change is hard. When you grow up enjoying burgers and bacon and cheese (and bacon cheeseburgers), like I did, you might understandably resist cutting back on those things when confronted with evidence that they are contributing to the climate crisis. I speak from personal experience about this resistance, which I maintained for years. My husband proposed to me over a milkshake in 2010. And so I say to the Wall Street Journal editorial board member who authored an opinion piece called " First They Came for the Cars, Then the Cows ," take a deep breath. It's going to be okay. And you can be part of the solution. The author was peeved because policymakers in various countries are trying out policy options to discourage animal agriculture, which she acknowledged is contributing to climate change: "Livestock production accounts for about 11% to 17% of global greenhouse-gas emissions and about 32% of the world’s methane, which is 28 times as potent as carbon dioxide. Pound...