Usually this days are "National This" and "National That," but here's one that includes the entire Earth.

It's World Vegetarian Day, and here's the official web site so you can figure out how to celebrate it yourself (besides eating vegetables and not eating meat). I'm not really up on the different types of vegetarianism (in fact, I'm not even sure if "vegetarianism" is a word). Aren't there different types? Some that don't eat fish or eggs? Some that don't eat plant life or something? I'm sure one of our readers can give a quick course in the comments.

October 1 is actually the start of Vegetarian Awareness Month.

The National Pork Board has been touting pork as "the other white meat" for decades, providing low fat pork to the American public. In the last fifteen years the average pork chop has about the same amount of fat as skinless chicken breast. The only problem is that while being low fat, it is also low taste, just like that pasty white, mushy chicken breast. In many cases the pork has no taste at all. You try to fry up a chop and you end up having to add lots of fats or oils to brown it, and if you aren't careful you end up with a tough, dry, and flavorless hunk of inedible pseudo-pig on your plate.

Pork isn't supposed to be white, or even light pink. It should be a light red meat, but commercial pork producers have been breeding lower and lower fat hogs for decades, and it hit it's apex a few years ago. The fat and flavor ratios are so low in today's commercial pork that my local A&P / Food Emporium doesn't carry much in the way of untreated raw pork, only pre-brined, chemical laden and flavored raw pork. Brining is soaking raw meat for several hours to days or even weeks in a mix of water, salt, phosphates, and other chemicals and flavorings. It is used to add moisture and flavor to meat that has had all the fat, and so all flavor, bred right out of it. You also end up with the pork absorbing up to 10% water, a cheap way for pork producers to charge more for less meat per pound.

Every time we turn around it seems that there is some expert or some study telling us that another food is "bad" for us. And given a little more time, there will be another person saying that the food is, in fact, "good." Red meat -- a category that includes beef, pork and lamb -- has been subject to this time and again and it is getting difficult to keep track of all the things that it can -- and cannot -- do. Fortunately, an Independent columnist neatly summarized the benefits and risks of eating red meat.

Benefits

• High in zinc, which is important for a healthy immune system.
• Contains more iron than most foods, and it is more easily used by the body than iron from other sources
• Also a good source of other vitamins and minerals, including phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, selenium and b vitamins.
• Excellent source of complete proteins
• A high-protein diet based on lean red meat has been shown to help weight loss

Risks

• An increased risk of bowel cancer was found for people who ate more than two servings of red meat per week.
• The Mediterranean diet, which is low in red meat, has been shown to decrease the risk of Alzheimer's disease
• Excessive amounts of red meat can lead to a higher risk of osteoporosis due to an acid byproduct from digesting very large amounts of protein.
• Eating red meat every day can double the risk of Arthritis
• Red meat is high in saturated fat and cholesterol
• A recent study found that rating more than one serving of red meat per day can double the risk of breast cancer, especially in young women.

Some new research suggests that there may be a link between breast cancer and the amount of red meat women consume. Researchers said that having "one-and-a-half servings of red meat per day almost doubled the risk of hormone receptor-positive breast cancer compared to three or fewer per week." The conclusion was drawn from data from the Nurses' Health Study II, which was collected from 1989 to 2003, and where one portion of meat was defined as having a meat main dish (or major component of the name dish) at any meal, including in a sandwich, hamburger, hot dog or bacon.

There are a few reasons attributed to the increase in risk. First, some cancer-causing chemicals "such as heterocyclic amines" are created when red meat is cooked. Second, there may be a link with some of the growth hormones given to cattle. That being said, previous forays into this area have proven to be inconclusive, so even though there was a correlation it doesn't mean that anything is completely certain at this point.

Beef consumption is down in many consumer groups, with people saying 'I like beef, but I already eat too much.' According to the USDA, beef consumption has dropped by 14% over the past 20 years while, for example, chicken consumption has risen over 60%. These are worrying numbers to the beef industry, who are constantly seeking new ways to combat negative consumer perceptions about red meat and bolster sales.

Their newest strategy is to target the one group whose beef consumtion hasn't flagged: Hispanics. According to the beef council, "Hispanic shoppers spend 33 percent more on beef than non-Hispanics" - a statistic that is worth taking notice of. In an effort to maintain these sales, campaigns will be launched in states including California, Texas, Colorado and Minnesota that are aimed at promoting beef to Hispanic buyers. And just like they have a website marketed at teens, the beef industry is developing one that will be marketed towards an Hispanic audience to promote the nutritional and taste benefits of beef.

Strange but true! I was on a health kick around that time, and I vigorously avoided all meat. And over the years, I just haven't eaten any steak. It's not a concious health decision on my part, really. I just stopped eating steak, and in the past 14 years my meals have been dominated by chicken and turkey (and pizza). I've had cheeseburgers once in a great while, and I sometimes get pepperoni on my pizza, and I certainly can't get by the winter without having several bowls of mouth-watering chili. But your typical steak? I haven't had one in so long.

But I have a feeling that this day here at Slashfood is going to change all that ...

It is difficult to tell when a steak is done simply by looking at it unless you like your meat very, very rare or very, very well-done. The cooking times given in recipes, if given at all, tend to be vague because the temperatures that our grills and stoves work at can vary so widely. For example, a dial set to "medium heat"  on one stove might actually produce as large a flame as "high heat" in another kitchen. Cutting meat open once at the end of cooking isn't a big deal, but if you need to keep checking the interior of the meat, you can lose a lot of the cooking juices. The best way to check if the meat is done is by using a meat thermometer (125F for rare, 135F for medium, and 155F for well-done, according to Real Simple), but you can also use your hand as a reference and determine the doneness from the firmness of the meat.

I labeled a diagram of a hand, above, to identify the reference points. Simply press the labeled spots on your hand. They correspond with the following levels of doneness:

1. Rare meat should feel soft and offer little resistance to pressure.
2. Medium meat should feel firm, but with a little bit of give to it. The less give, the more well-done the piece will be.
3. Well done meat should also feel firm, but will have only minimal give to it.

Among the most popular items listed on Valentine’s Day menus are meats and seafood. The holiday lends itself meals that feature lamb, veal, steak and lobster, along with purported aphrodisiacs like oysters. But for vegetarians, the specials offered at many restaurants aren’t love inducing and a simple salad is not really the optimal main course for a romantic, special occasion.

If your Valentine is vegetarian, try to check the menu of the restaurant before you make a reservation or simply as the host or hostess if they offer vegetarian options when you call. Most restaurants either have options already or have no problem making sure that a substitute for a carnivorous main course is available. If they cannot or refuse to accommodate you, it is best to change your reservations, since an otherwise lovely evening can be marred by an unpleasant dinner.