Hug a tree today, seriously: Eco-Friendly Eating

I have touched on a lot of important points on my blog, but I haven't said much about how to greenify your diet. To be honest, "greenify" just about sums it up-- local, organic, and vegetarian foods!
I'll begin with some stats:

A 2006 UN report describes the meat industry as "one of the top two or three most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems." *
The same amount of greenhouse gases are emitted by eating a pound of meat as are emitted from driving an SUV for 40 miles! *
The meat industry is the leading factor to anthropogenic methane emissions. *
53 different carcinogenic chemicals are used in increasingly great quantities on crops in North America. **
1600 L of oil per year is used for each American who eats industrially-produced food ("regular" food). **
The World Cancer Research Fund states that the maximum amount of meat that can be safely ingested per year is 30 kg. The average Canadian consumes 101 kg of meat per year! **
1/3 of all the world's grain harvest is fed to livestock! Meat production is the largest user of land in the world, when you include the grain required to grow it. **
Each vegetarian in North America saves 1 acre of trees and 4.4 million litres of water each year, and uses half as much water as a meat-eater does.**
The average distance that our food travels to get to us is 2000 km! **
1/3 of waste in landfills in Canada could have been composted. **
The average vegetarian saves 50 animals per year***, but every vegan saves the lives of 100-200 animals every year, simply by not eating animals or their "products". ****
When we cook our food, not only do we waste precious resources, but we also destroy its "living" quality (killing the cells). Raw foodists argue that since humans are living beings, we should eat living food.*****
The production of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) has gone up from 1.7 million hectares worldwide in 1996 to 102 million hectares in 2006!****** GMOs are dangerous because they can have untold effects on local ecosystems and human health. **

* National Capital Vegetarian Association
** The Otesha Book: From Junk to Funk!
*** http://www.chooseveg.com/vegetarians-save-lives.asp
**** http://www.peta.org/b/thepetafiles/archive/2010/12/13/vegans-save-185-animals-a-year.aspx
***** http://www.stickam.com/viewMedia.do?mId=193124761
****** http://www.gmo-compass.org/eng/agri_biotechnology/gmo_planting/145.gmo_cultivation_trait_statistics.html

Wow-- it seems like eating local, organic, and vegan is a lot more crucial than most people may have thought!

It's really quite easy, although it will obviously take a few days/weeks to get used to. Many foods at the grocery store are already vegan (chips, rice cakes, bread, cereals), and organic produce is often sold there, too. Here are a few things to make it even easier for you.

Farmer's Markets! Buy your fresh fruits and vegetables here, straight from the producers. You can ask them whether they use organic and GMO-free seed and growing practices.
Health Food Stores: Although you don't ever have to set foot into a health food store to be an environmentally-concious eater, they certainly can provide a lot more variety than the typical grocery store.
Health food sections at your grocery store: Many major chain grocery stores now have health food sections. If not, you may be able to find specialty products intermingled with the other "foods". It is always best to support small retailers first, however.
Amazing companies: Lydia's Organics, Amy's Kitchen, Larabar (for an entire list of vegan/natural food producers, please visit: http://www.vegparadise.com/foodmakers.html)

I am a vegan who tries to eat as many organic, local, and GMO-free foods as I can, but seeing that I still live with my parents, I have to compromise on how much of the food is eco-friendly (no compromises on my vegan diet, though). I haven't really gotten into the raw food diet thing, but I still advocate it for anyone looking to take their eco-friendly diet one step further! I've taken a picture of some of the eco-friendly foods currently at my house, many of which are also raw and gluten-free:

There are so many more products out there, however-- never stop searching! I forgot to add my oatmeal and quinoa companies... oh well, there's no point in re-assembling the whole thing now.

If anyone tries to tell you that your eco-friendly diet is nonsense, don't let them get away without you telling them what you think of the "normal" modern diet. I mean it. If there's one thing that gets me riled up, it's ignorance!

For more information on achieving a healthy vegan/organic/local/waste-free/GMO-free diet, please visit the following websites. Keep in mind that you will have to do a bit of research into getting all the right nutrients-- but you should do that even if you aren't following a special diet. If you think that there are too many websites listed below to go to, just click on whichever one has the most interesting name :)

Vegetarian/vegan:

http://www.veganoutreach.org/

http://www.vegansociety.com/

http://www.ncva.ca/

https://www.vegsoc.org/

http://www.vrg.org/

http://www.veganhealth.org/

http://www.happycow.net/vegan_diet.html

Organic:

http://www.organicfoodinfo.net/

Raw Food:

http://www.happycow.net/raw/raw_living.html