10 food choices that help the planet

With everything from meat contamination scandals to concerns about agriculture's climate change impact in the news these days, more and more people are turning to a vegan diet. But, there are other ways to eat in an environmentally-friendly way too. Free-range meat products are now commonplace. Rarely, though, are cows raised in such a paradise as this alpine meadow.

In the 1970s and 80s, eating vegetarian, and especially vegan — abstaining from animal products completely, like milk and eggs — was not part of the mainstream. Nowadays, things are changing. Jonathan Safran Foer's book "Eating Animals" sparked thought about the meat people eat. More vegan restaurants are sprouting up all over the place; here are some dishes from 'Pêle-Mêle' in Berlin.

Eating vegan can reduce carbon footprints and water usage worldwide. The UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that the meat industry generates nearly one-fifth of human-made greenhouse gas emissions contributing to climate change. Scientists also say that 13,000 to 15,000 liters of water are needed to produce just one kilogram of beef.

With the recent scandal surrounding Dutch horsemeat being sold as beef, more Europeans are now simply choosing to eat meat less. But, for those that can't do without, the "Meine kleine Farm" (My little farm) concept tries to achieve transparency with consumers. It aims to give each animal it sells as meat a proper identity.

The Potsdam-based farm has a website showing the living conditions of the animals and giving customers a chance to vote online about which animal they want slaughtered next. Since they mainly sell to customers in the nearby region, the 'Meine kleine Farm' project also helps to keep transportation routes — and thus greenhouse gases — to a minimum.

Eating locally and in season also helps reduce greenhouse gases because it cuts out long transportation routes. Canadians Alisa Smith and J.B. MacKinnon argued for local cuisine in their book, "100-mile diet: A year of local eating." The couple spent one year eating foods from within one hundred miles of their home. Self-preserved foods got them through the winter.

The modern industrial agriculture practice of cultivating monocultures, such as corn and soy, can make the crops more susceptible to pests and diseases. This, in turn, promotes the widespread use of pesticides. Small-scale farmers, on the other hand, often promote crop diversity which makes plants naturally more robust, even in periods of drought.

Cultivating one's own crops is possible even in big cities, as shown by the "Princess Garden" project right in the middle of Germany's capital, Berlin. Crops are grown and consumed locally, with food dishes offered as business lunches at an on-site café. The urban farmers here say gardening raises awareness about the environment and, since the garden is shared, they make friends along the way too.

With Germans throwing away an estimated 20 million tons of food a year, food-sharing has become one of the latest environmentally-friendly trends. Restaurants or grocery stores donate still-edible food that they can no longer use to charity organizations. Foodsharing.de is an internet portal where people can swap food they won't be able to eat.

Many dietary experts argue that a vegetarian or vegan diet can be good for your health too. Various studies show that a decrease in daily meat consumption may reduce the risk of cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and obesity.