Earth-Friendly Eating

Food shopping tips that go beyond buying local.

By Janis Graham

From Reader's Digest

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Rosemary Calvert/Getty Images

Eat well and do your part.

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Rosemary Calvert/Getty Images

Eat well and do your part.

What's good for your body also turns out to be good for the environment. Substitute chicken, fish, or vegetables for red meat and dairy just one day a week, and your family of four will eliminate the greenhouse gases produced by a 760-mile car trip, say researchers from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, who studied the impact of dozens of foods. Other ways to do your part:

Buy local and fresh. Local isn't better if the food is stored for long periods, using up more energy. Fresh-picked fare not only avoids long trips in fume-spewing trucks, planes, and boats, but it also packs more nutrients and requires no preservatives.

Choose sun-ripened fruits and vegetables. They generate fewer emissions than produce raised in heated greenhouses. Find out what's in season in your area at nrdc.org.

Cut back on processed foods. A lot of mileage goes into foods with artificial sweeteners, additives, and preservatives because these ingredients are often shipped to the manufacturer from other locations. •

From Reader's Digest - October 2008

• Healthy Habits
• • Shopping Guides
• • Environment