This post was originally published on Health Care Without Harm’s News.
The hamburger is an American tradition but healthcare professionals know that eating too much red meat can have health consequences. Too much meat can also have negative impacts on the environment – causing air and water pollution and contributing to climate change. The James Beard Foundation developed an innovative strategy to reduce our consumption of meat while still enjoying the burgers we love: the Blended Burger. A Blended Burger combines mushrooms (or other plant-based ingredients) with ground beef (or other ground meat) to reduce the total meat in the burger while improving its flavor.
Health Care Without Harm is bringing this strategy to the health care sector as a complement to our “Less Meat, Better Meat” approach. By serving blended burgers during Nutrition Month (and beyond!) you can address the health risks associated with meat over-consumption and reduce your facility’s environmental impact.
How to participate
- Sign up to receive your promotional poster
- Serve a blended burger twice during the month of March. You can purchase a ready-made option or create your own blend using locally sourced meat raised without routine antibiotics.
- Answer our short follow-up survey.
Resources
- Sources of meat raised without antibiotics
- Blended burger recipe
- Dietician toolkit
Help spread the word!
Submit photos of your blended burger celebration. Promote your efforts on social media using the tags: #incredibleblendable, #nutritionmonth, and @HCWithoutharm. Your best photos, posts, and stories will enhance, enrich and expand our coverage of this important month!
Why serve a blended burger?
Taste
Blending beef with mushrooms improves its taste due to the savory “umami” flavor in mushrooms. Mushrooms also retain moisture for a juicier burger.
Health
Blended Burgers reduce meat in the diet and add vegetables. One serving of mushrooms contains three grams of protein, one gram of fiber, and nutrients such as vitamin D, antioxidants, B vitamins, and potassium. Enhancing the flavor of meat with mushrooms also can reduce the need for salt.
Climate
Livestock contributes 18% of the global greenhouse gasses which cause climate change. Eliminating meat for one day per week could reduce emissions having an equivalent impact to taking 273 million cars off the road.
How the Blended Burger Can Help Solve Our Emissions Crisis from Epicurious
Cost
Reducing the amount of meat in a burger can lower the cost and can make it more cost effective to utilize meat with sustainable attributes such as local beef raised without routine antibiotics
Patient care
For patients on restricted diets but that are craving their comfort foods, blending meat with mushrooms may help align nutrient profiles with their health needs.
Get Creative!
Blending is not just for burgers! Try blending mushrooms with other dishes such as meatloaf, meatballs, and chili. Or try blending greens, grains, and other ingredients with your favorite protein. Blending goes a long way to help improve our health and the health of the planet.
How to Make a Blended Burger from the James Beard Foundation
Nutrition Month is a month-long education campaign created by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. This event has been hosted every March since 1973. More information about Nutrition Month can be found on the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics website.
