GROWING YOUR BUSINESS: Give your people permission to break rules

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Growing your businessby Dan Beaulieu
Business consultant

Great customer service is often delivered by people who don’t mind breaking the rules.

You walk into your favorite pizza place. You love the pizza here because it is always fresh, hot, and delicious, so good, in fact that as far as you’re concerned, there is no other place in town to get pizza. One of the things you especially like about this place is that they serve pizza by the slice, which you love when you’re in a hurry and need a quick slice, or two, before you get back to what you are doing. You arrive at 7:15 one evening only to be told that they don’t sell by the slice after 7 p.m.

You’re disappointed but you get it, they don’t have enough walk-in business that late in the evening to move the pies by the slice. You are about to choose something else, when the person serving you says, “Hold on a minute and a few seconds later appears with a fresh hot slice of pizza and sells it to you. Now she is obviously taking a risk, she has broken the rule; you don’t know where she got that slice. But all you care about is that she gave you, a recognized good customer, a steady customer, what you asked for, and with that simple gesture, she guaranteed your loyalty forever. That is rule-breaking great customer service.

Sometimes great customer service comes to you unexpectedly, like the lady from the dry cleaners knocking on your door as six in the evening, after her shift is over because you forgot to take all of your shirts when you picked up the others earlier in the day.

Or, the car mechanic who calls you late one afternoon to tell you he has been thinking about the sound your car is making and he is pretty sure he knows what it is; so, if you bring in first thing in the morning, he will fix it right away. Just the fact that he has been thinking about your car’s problem after you left is a big deal!

Or the cable service person who actually tells you exactly when she will be at your house. And then won’t leave until she solves your problem, no matter how often the office is calling her to get to her next call.

Or your favorite waiter, at your favorite restaurant, who knows your taste so well that he likes to bring you a little sample of a new dish the chef is preparing because he thinks you’ll like it…and he doesn’t charge you a penny for it.

Or the person who is drying your car, at the car wash, who is not happy with the job they did, and insists on taking your car through again.

These are all examples of people who care more about the customers they are serving, than the rules of the company they work for. Now as a business owner ask yourself these questions:

  • What would you do if these were your employees? Would you reward them or reprimand them?
  • Do you have a system that gives your employees permission to do the right thing for your customers?
  • Is your entire staff trained to react the way the people in these examples reacted?

If not, then you’d better think about your customer service attitude and training. But if, on the other hand, these examples sound like what’s happening in your company, then good for you because that is the right way you are going to grow your business.

GARDEN WORKS: Wrapping up for winter

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Emily Catesby Emily Cates

Are we ready for Old Man Winter? We should be, since Mother Nature seems to be making up her mind that she’s here!

Many opportunities in the garden like digging and planting are lost when the ground freezes. The good news, though, is there may be a little time left for winterizing our garden and orchard now. The effort expended will reward us next year with fewer frustrations and heartaches, and much more satisfaction with our hard work. A case in point is all those wonderful fruit trees we invested our time and money in. At twenty-five bucks a pop, a tree will potentially pay for itself many times over — that is, if it thrives and survives long enough to make it worth our while. Chances are if a young tree successfully makes it through the winter, then it will be more likely to do well in the future. That’s why winter care is so vital and should not be overlooked, especially in beginning of the season and early on in a tree’s lifespan. The following are suggestions with trees in mind — though they should work well with vines (such as grapes), cane fruits, and shrubs.

The challenges for trees in the wintertime are unique. An important thing to keep in mind is that the snow can both help and hurt a tree. It helps in that it acts as a protective blanket that holds in warmth, thus enabling a tree to be fully hardy in northern areas. However, this blanket will also house unwelcome guests such as rodents who chew the bark and damage the tree. Foil the rascals with tin foil- simply make a collar and wrap the tree trunk at the base and up a foot or two. Or use hardware cloth, window screening, or a tree guard from a garden store. Remember to regularly check the collar and allow room for the growing trunk, keeping an eye out for girdling and abrasion if rigid materials are used.

Winter sun might brighten our day, but it can reflect on the snow pack and harm the trunk of a tree. Trees in the woods seem to have less of this problem since the light is more diffused, but it can be a bigger issue in an orchard planting. Sunscald can be remedied by a coat of interior latex paint mixed with joint compound and painted onto the trunk. (This, incidentally, also makes it easier to spot borer damage on pear and apple trees.) The FEDCO Trees catalog has a great recipe for an organic option using quick lime, milk, and linseed oil. Tin foil may once again come to the rescue for this problem; it’s also good for minimizing the danger of being smoosh­ed by the snow­ plow. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard of an unfortunate tree or shrub meeting its end this way — so let’s be sure to clearly mark our beloved trees and keep them safe!

A good layer of mulch around trees to their drip edge can be applied or renewed at this time. Mulching will help conserve moisture and nutrients, moderate soil temperatures, encourage earthworms, and keep weeds in check. Bark mulch, pebbles, old sawdust, shredded leaves, untreated cardboard, newspaper, rotted manure, and compost are preferable to hay, which encourages rodents. Be sure to pull the mulch a few inches away from the trunk. If possible, try to delay pruning until late winter, unless removing dead or diseased parts of the tree (unless you have a tree or shrub that has specific pruning needs for this time). Pruning encourages growth, which is not what we want right now. New growth is especially tender and susceptible to winterkill. So hold off on most pruning and fertilizers, and put the trees to bed instead.

And let’s face it. It is rare to have 100 percent success in the garden. So let’s take stock and walk our plot, and examine each and every tree, shrub, vine, or specimen. It may be a good idea to make the tough decisions now. Is there a tree that looks sickly, a vine out of place, or a shrub which under-whelmed our expectations? Maybe it’s time to take action and make room for something else that will be worth it. Late autumn is an ideal time for this, since the vacancy may be prepared now for planting with fresh ideas in springtime.

And while we’re outside, let’s enjoy the wonderfully crisp air, welcoming Old Man Winter to our gardens!

I’M JUST CURIOUS: Hide and NO seek

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by Debbie Walker

Nana Dee, of the Wandering Nanas, uses a lot of fabric for making garments, quilts and the list goes on. We have laughed about how sometimes you must get creative with your collections, sometimes that includes hiding some of the collection for fear of criticism.

We came across an old column from Fons & Porter’s Love of Quilting magazine, May/June 2004 issue, by Cindy L. Weyers, titled 50 Ways to Hide Your Fabric. We aren’t all hiding fabric, so I have left a few ideas out, the ones included here are multi-purpose. You might consider some of these good for hiding Christmas presents as well.

One place for hiding craft materials is in the closet behind and in your shoes on the floor. Men never look at women’s shoes unless they are admiring the legs that go with them.

Hide things behind clothes on closet shelves.

Put false bottoms in clothes hampers. No one digs deeply in there except you.

Store things in a crate marked as women’s clothes and don’t forget where you put them!

Place flat things, like clothing gifts, between mattress and box spring.

Layer some things under the cushions of sofa. Explain it’s needed because some remote control-punching, chip munching, sweating couch potato is squishing the cushions. He will ignore them.

Place in closed box under the sink marked “Cleaning Supplies.” No one will even look!

Fill another box and mark with ‘Feminine Supplies.” That should keep him out of that area.

Fill your cedar chest.

Store in bottom of china cabinet.

When the kids move out, fill their dresser drawers with your goodies.

Tuck between blankets in linen closet.

Hide under beds. Fear of dust bunnies will keep him away.

Store in a vacuum bag under the bed.

Store on top of china cabinet, another place only you would look.

Store in luggage. You usually do the packing anyway, no one would look.

If you know of more places you might drop me a line to let me add them to the list. I wish he would look over his garage and leave the house to me! I don’t touch the garage.

In my copy of HGTV there is always a column titled, How Bad Is It? Straight answers to scratch-your-head questions:

How bad is it to toss a can of spray paint in the trash? If it is empty, it’s not bad. If there’s any paint in it, it’s pretty bad.

How bad is it to keep opening your oven to check on the turkey? Not so bad. The fatal mistake is to try to cook it faster by upping the temperature, that’s pretty bad.

Before I forget it! Did you know there is an easier way to peel a banana than the way I grew up doing it? From the top or from the bottom? I was having trouble getting one opened the other day. My daughter looked over and said, “Do it like the monkeys do, it’s easier. She showed me you open it from the bottom. SOOooo….. much easier! Give it a try.

As usual, I am just curious, where you hide things. I hope you will let me know.

Contact me at dwdaffy@yahoo.com with any questions or comments or call the office and leave me a message. Thank you for reading. Have a happy, healthy week.

REVIEW POTPOURRI – Poet: Edward Lear; Band: Jefferson Airplane

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Jefferson Airplane

Peter Catesby Peter Cates

Edward Lear

From Edward Lear, 1812-1888, the gifted poet of nonsense verse from London:

There was an Old Man of Three Bridges
Whose mind was distracted by midges;
He sate on a wheel, eating underdone veal,
Which relieved that Old Man of Three Bridges.

A record has been left of the first Thanksgiving in New England being held in Popham Colony on October 4, 1607, with local Native-American tribes who later survived the brutal Maine winter that year in the forest with better results than the colonists living by the coast. More info on Google and other sources.

Highly recommended listening, if not previously heard:

Marshall Dodge

The first Bert and I mid-’50s release with speaker Marshall Dodge and Robert Bryan doing sound effects with his voice.

My favorite Jefferson Airplane album, After Bathing at Baxter’s, and still available on CD since its 1968 release. Its music has a sustained balance of ‘60s rock and beauty few others have maintained from then.

Eugene Ormandy

Conductor Eugene Ormandy, 1899-1985, led the Philadelphia Orchestra from 1938 to 1980 and left 900 or more recordings with it and more composers in them than all other conductors. His birthday anniversary is November 18. I highly recommend his recordings especially of Rachmaninoff’s music. The composer recorded HIS Piano Concertos 1, 3, and 4 with Ormandy and the 2nd one with Ormandy’s predecessor, Leopold Stokowski in 1929.

 

 

 

 

FOR YOUR HEALTH: When Getting Your Wisdom Teeth Out, You Can Ease Pain Without Opioids

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(NAPSI)—“Will it hurt?” is often one of the first questions people ask when told they need a medical procedure.

One problem: the mere thought of pain can intensify its feeling. It’s enough to make some people put off medical care—including minor dental surgery.

Doctors and dentists understand. They’re healers by nature and don’t want to inflict pain on their patients if they can help it.

Fortunately, dental pain management has come a long way in the past century. Novocain was formulated in 1905. And when highly effective painkillers such as hydrocodone, oxycodone, and acetaminophen with codeine became available, dental surgeons began prescribing them for pain relief from wisdom tooth extraction and similar procedures.

“Today, we know the danger that comes with opioids—and that absolutely anyone can become addicted,” says Gregory Theis, DDS. Dr. Theis is director of dental services for Delta Dental of Wisconsin, the state’s largest dental plan.

“Tragically, that includes teens and young adults who were first introduced to opioid painkillers with a legitimate prescription, often following wisdom tooth extraction,” he adds.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, 45% of initial opioid exposure is linked to a dental procedure such as wisdom tooth removal or other oral surgery. For some, that exposure can lead to a lifetime of dependency and drug misuse.

A large study by Stanford University School of Medicine found that 6.8% of young people who got an initial opioid prescription from their dentists sought additional prescriptions for opioids after filling their first one. Just 12 months later, 5.8% of those individuals were diagnosed with opioid abuse. Among a comparable control group, only 0.4% of young people who didn’t receive an opioid prescription were diagnosed with opioid abuse during the same period.

With a greater understanding of opioid dangers, dentists and their professional organizations such as the American Dental Association (ADA) are acting to combat abuse and limit unnecessary prescriptions.

Their campaigns are working. From 2012 to 2017, U.S. dentists have reduced their opioid prescriptions by nearly half a million.

“Educating dentists, our customers, and our members on the dangers of opioid abuse is a top priority right now,” says Dr. Theis. “We’re teaching people that over-the-counter painkillers like naproxen and ibuprofen can be very effective for dental pain management.”

What if you’re terrified of experiencing any pain—and your dentist says you need your wisdom teeth removed? According to Dr. Theis, that’s one procedure you may be able to delay—or avoid entirely.

Dentists once routinely extracted wisdom teeth: the third molars that usually emerge between ages 17 and 24. But that practice is changing.

“Unless the wisdom teeth cause problems with the jaw or other teeth, or they become infected and are painful, patients may be able to delay the procedure a few years, until the teeth break through the gums,” explains Dr. Theis.

When the molars emerge from the gums, removal is often far less complicated and less painful. That means general anesthesia and strong painkillers can often be avoided.

And sometimes, he adds, you can just let those wisdom teeth erupt and function like other teeth. Or you may be one of the lucky 22% of the population who never develop wisdom teeth at all.

If you ever do need dental surgery, be your own wellness advocate—ask for pain relief alternatives to opioids. If you must take them, use precautions:

  • Take only the prescribed dose or less.
  • Beware of side effects with other medications.
  • Stop taking painkillers as soon as possible.
  • Safely dispose of leftover medications.

SOLON & BEYOND: Poolers honored as 4-H volunteers

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Marilyn Rogers-Bull & Percyby Marilyn Rogers-Bull & Percy
grams29@tds.net
Solon, Maine 04979

Was happy to receive the following e-mail from Pat Hunt: “I’m sure you remember my husband, Rev. Tim Hunt, the pastor of New Hope E Free Church, in Solon, who passed away in January. A month after his death, I was asked to go on a two-week mission’s trip to Ireland, which seemed like an absolute impossibility at the time. However, I was able to go from October 21 – November 5, and found it to be a simply amazing experience! Our team of three workers with the Dublin Christian Mission (the second oldest such mission in the world) and during our two-week stay, we served hundreds of meals to the homeless and poured incalculable cups of tea and coffee. We also had the wonderful experience of touring much of the country and seeing the old ruins of castles, walls, and homes from this centuries-old civilization.”

For those of you who wondered at the abrupt ending of my column last week, my computer is playing tricks on me again! I had sent my entire version of news facts for things that had happened, and what was coming up, but all of it never made it to The Town Line office……and so, luckily, they will get printed in time.

But before that I will start with the rest of the article about the Solon Pine Tree 4-H Club news that was left out in the middle of it. I had written about what some of the members had received awards for ending with Mathew Ladd, in poultry. The next name of the 4H member left out was Macie Plowde, in Plant Science for her Wildflowers. Lacie Dickey was honored by being the outstanding secretary again this year.

Eleanor Pooler and Rance Pooler received certificates and pins for being 4-H volunteers. Eleanor for 60 years and Rance for 50 years.

There will be a craft fair at the New Portland Community Library on December 7 from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m., at 899 River Road, in New Portland . If you wish to reserve a table, call 628-6561 or drop in .$10 per table with three tables left. Things offered are Christmas ornaments, baked goods, wreaths, gifts…and more! Join us for last minute holiday shopping!

The Embden Community Center now has a warming center! The community center now has a generator. If there is a power outage and citizens need a place, to fill water containers, use bathroom facilities, including access to showers, place to charge phones or just someone to talk to, the community center will be open. Hours will be posted on the door. Games will be available. More to come,

Then, of course, there was Percy’s weekly memoir: “A Touch of Loveliness.” Add a touch of loveliness to the things you say and do. Give pleasure to more people by a happy smile, won’t you? Be thoughtful of the people whom you meet in shop and store, then to God you will be dearer. He will love you even more. Aim higher , think kinder, be a better, nicer you, aim higher, think kinder, for this world has need of you. (words by Sr. Mary Gemma Brunke)

Some news I just received from Beyond: On November 23 there is a Huntah’s Supper at the Wellington VFW from 4 – 7 p.m., sponsored by the Wellington VFW and Wellington Church.

Just received the following e-mail : Samual and June (Withee) Knox were honored September 21, 2019, at the Tewksbury Hall, in Skowhegan, for their 25th wedding anniversary. The celebration was given to them by their daughter Emily and son Ethan with the help of family. Samual and June reside in Madison.

Now just a short thought as I cross my fingers and hope that this column will reach it’s destination with no problems: “Always remember to forget the troubles that passed away, but never forget to remember the blessings that come each day.

GARDEN WORKS – Ready for Wintertime! Tips and tricks as the clock ticks

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Emily Catesby Emily Cates

Few times of the year are as satisfying to me as autumn. With crates full of goodies like garlic, onions, squash, carrots and potatoes- and canning jars brimming with the rewards of successful harvests, I feel surrounded with abundance, always thankful.

After planting the garlic and putting the garden to bed, the frost finally settles into the ground, bringing this season to an end. However, for the adventurous and practical minded gardener, there is still work to be done.

If you are especially motivated and would like to keep working, here are a few suggestions. Let’s look at moving perennials, shrubs, vines, and trees – and also tips for making the garden plot easy to work with come springtime.

There’s a good window of opportunity to take advantage of between the times where plants have gone dormant and when the ground freezes for good this year. Usually this happens for a few weeks in our area starting late October/early November. So, if you have a tree you’d like planted, a perennial divided, a shrub moved, a grapevine pruned, then get to it!

Unlike springtime plantings of trees – for example – which must be well-watered throughout their first season, fall plantings only need thorough waterings up until the freeze. A nice thick mulch extended to the drip line but pulled away several inches away from the trunk is beneficial. (My trees seem to enjoy being mulched with aged debris left over from processing firewood, and they look pretty, too.)

Speaking of mulch, here’s a little time saving trick to working the garden next spring: mulch the heck out of it! (Wondering what to use for mulch? Think cardboard covered with old hay, leaves, straw, or compost. Tarps, old blankets, rugs, garden fabric, and sheets of plastic can do the job too.) Then, in the springtime, the mulch is moved and the garden planted with ease.

What I like to do is clean the garden beds thoroughly from crop residues and weeds – making sure to get any roots and rhizomes – and till it up with a spading fork, adding soil amendments as desired. Then I pile on the mulch, imagining it to be a warm, fluffy comforter for the garden to snuggle. Depending on my mood, I might even sing it a lullaby.

At this point, depending on how badly I overworked in the growing season, I will either take a needed hiatus, or (foolishly) press on to other outdoor activities such as firewood. Most likely it’s the latter scenario, with all the work from the growing season being the prelude, conditioning and leading up to the hard work of the harvest of the woods.

For all the time and effort, though, it sure feels good to have food and a warm home — along with a free “gym membership.”

November is national caregivers month

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by Dr. Erica Magnus
AARP Maine Communications Volunteer

While November 11 is widely recognized as Veterans Day, many people may not know that the entire month of November is both National Veterans and National Family Caregivers Month. Both of my parents were veterans. My father served in the Army in World War II and my mother later on served in the US Coast Guard. I encourage everyone to honor and pay respect to those who served our country in uniform and the caregivers supporting our valiant veterans.

There are 5.5 million military and veteran caregivers in the U.S. providing care to approximately 15 million veterans. These hidden heroes support their veteran loved ones with their daily needs—ranging from bathing and dressing to paying bills and transportation and assisting with medical tasks, providing an estimated $14 billion annually in unpaid care.

Numerous organizations have dedicated time and resources to address the challenges veterans face today, including their care needs.

AARP supports our veterans and their family caregivers through both the RAISE Family Caregivers Act and a partnership with the Elizabeth Dole Foundation to create a Military Caregiving Guide. I encourage everyone to visit AARP.org/Veterans to learn more about how AARP is working for veterans. Here in Maine, AARP pushed for November to be designated as Maine Family Caregivers Month – a perfect opportunity to celebrate our veterans and the unsung heroes who care for them right here at home.

GROWING YOUR BUSINESS: Brick and mortar retail ain’t dead yet

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The new Apple Store at the Maine Mall.

by Dan Beaulieu
Business consultant

If you have ever been in an Apple Store, you will have seen the future of retail and it is here now. I was in the Apple Store at the Maine Mall a few Saturday nights ago and was amazed to see how busy it was. The place was packed corner to corner with people of all age groups and ethnicity. And this was the new Apple Store. When we walked into the mall and went to where the Apple Store used to be, we were surprised and at first disappointed to see that it was closed. But then we saw the sign on the window saying that they had moved to a bigger location around the corner to better service their growing customer base.

“Oh yeah, sure,” I thought, thinking that they were just saying that to act like their business was increasing when actually they had probably just got a better deal on the rent. Wrong, wrong, wrong. When we came upon the new store, we could see that they had been telling the truth. It was twice as large, and it was still full of people. And the best part, there seemed to be as many Apple employees as was needed to handle all of these people.

We had not been in the store for more than a minute when a young man walked up to us and asked if he could help. And help he did. He spent over a half hour with us telling us all about the products we were interested in. Man, this guy was good.

He not only knew everything about the products, he even asked all the right questions so that he could get a better idea as to what our needs were and thus what the best product and model would be for us. We felt that we were not getting a sales pitch but rather an education about the Apple equipment, what they did and which ones we should look at that would best fit our needs.

We looked at the iPads, the Apple Watches and the iPhone. There was even a young woman with a microphone in front of a wall-to-wall screen teaching people how to best take photos with their iPhones.

And get this, nearly everyone was walking out with their smart white Apple bags, each holding Apple products costing hundreds if not thousands of dollars! Did you know that Apple retail stores yield more dollars per square foot than any other store in the world, yes, including Tiffany’s?

My point here is all about service, product knowledge, educational and informative sales. A little later, after my wife had spent $300 on a printer (and I feel I got off cheap), we walked down to the big electronics anchor store down the hall to look at a small refrigerator for her quilting studio. The place was deserted. When we looked around for help, we saw clusters of blue-shirted clerks talking and joking with each other. Once in a while one of them would turn and look at us but then go back to talking to the group of clerks he was with. Finally, one person did break away from the group and amble over to us to ask if we needed anything? When my wife asked him a question about one of the fridges she was interested in, he told her that this wasn’t his department and we would have to wait for him to find the right person in charge. And “oh, it might be a few minutes” because he was probably on break.

We don’t know if the small refrigerator expert ever came off his break, because we never bothered to stick around and wait until it was convenient for him to return. So, that big store will be out of business and they’ll be screaming to the heavens that the internet broke the brick and mortar retail business.

And to that I would say, just take a walk down the hall to the most successful brick and mortar store in the history of the world and take a page out of that book, or maybe a bite out of that apple, and you’ll see the right way to grow your business.

FOR YOUR HEALTH: How Americans Get Enough Protein While Eating Less Meat

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(NAPSI)—If you’re eating meat on a daily basis, it appears you may be in the minority—according to new research. A survey of 2,000 Americans examined respondents’ eating habits and found that less than half (47 percent) said meat is a major part of their diet.

Instead of chowing down on pork and beef for dinner, 71 percent of respondents are open to including more plant-based foods in their diet, with 25 percent choosing to follow a flexitarian diet—a semi-vegetarian diet that focuses on healthy plant proteins and other whole, plant-based foods but encourages meat and animal products in moderation—according to the survey commissioned by Herbalife Nutrition.

The change in diet isn’t a huge surprise, as beef and pork consumption has been steadily falling since 1975, according to the USDA.

What Are Americans Eating?

For those who don’t consume meat as a major part of their diet, they shared that they supplement their protein intake with shakes and protein bars (65 percent), as well as by eating food known to be a high source of protein (56 percent)—foods such as soy, peas, beans and rice.

Many dietitians agree that the USDA’s minimum recommended daily consumption of protein is just that, a minimum, and not enough for optimal performance. Instead, multiplying one’s weight by .7, will get individuals closer to their actual daily protein needs in grams. For example, a 100 pound person should consume 70 grams of protein a day.

“Protein is an important component of every cell in the body, helping to support healthy bones, muscles and organs,” says Susan Bowerman, registered dietitian and senior director of Nutrition Education and Training at Herbalife Nutrition. “So, whether you obtain your protein from shakes, bars, animals or plants, your focus should be on the quality of the source, to help ensure your body is receiving maximum benefit.”

In recent years, additional plant-based protein options, such as “meatless meat,” have been growing in popularity and have become mainstream. The trend, according to the study, is driven by Millennials and accepted equally all generations.

“For those who want to eat more plant foods but don’t want to give up the taste of meat, there are plenty of ‘meatless meat’ options,” continues Bowerman. “While bean and grain-based burgers have been around for some time, there are newer products made with plant protein powders that provide the taste and texture that meat eaters crave.”

Why Are People Changing Their Diet?

There are numerous reasons people make changes to their diet. According the study findings, those who identified as flexitarians stated that their food choices were a result of wanting to be healthier (52 percent), wanting to be environmentally-friendly (40 percent) and ethical (31 percent).

Youth are helping drive the change to more plant-based meals; as 36 percent of flexitarians said they follow the lifestyle because their child(ren) had requested the change.

Plant-Based Proteins: A Sustainable Alternative

According to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, raising livestock for meat, eggs and milk generates 14.5 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, the second highest source of emissions and greater than all transportation combined.

Furthermore, the American Society of Clinical Nutrition states that worldwide shortages of cropland, fresh water and energy resources already require most people to live on a plant-based diet.

Consuming plant-based protein is something that’s already widespread. More people now understand that plant-based diets are not devoid of protein—in fact, plant-based proteins, as opposed to animal protein, are naturally cholesterol-free and they are relatively low in saturated fats.

From a sustainability standpoint, plant-based proteins—especially soy—are the smart way to go because when comparing the amount of protein produced between soy crops and livestock, the soy uses less water than pork or beef, requires less land and produces less carbon pollution.