Eat more 'green' for you and for Earth

What's for dinner?

On this Earth Day, the answer to that question has become a little tricky. Lately, food issues have increasingly crisscrossed environmental ones: The globe's food system has a super-sized carbon footprint.

In many areas, people are changing their food habits to protect natural habitats, use less oil and help create environmentally sustainable ways of producing food.

If you want to green up your diet, here are some the ways you can join people who think about the Earth before they eat.

Buy local

U.S. food production is based on the efficiency of specialized, large-scale farms concentrated in certain parts of the country.

It relies on oil for fertilizer and machinery fuel, transportation and processing, and government subsidies for corn and soy. As a result, Americans have enjoyed abundant and cheap food, particularly since the 1950s.

But many observers say this fossil-fuel dependent system is unsustainable and that communities must create an alternative by strengthening local food economies with more diversified, smaller producers.

"We're trading cheap food now for not being able to have it at all in the future," said Valerie Taylor, who runs a blog called Cincinnati Locavore. "It doesn't seem like a very good deal."

Taylor blogs about where to buy meat and produce from people in southwest Ohio, thus lessening transportation costs, keeping money in the local economy and eating fresher food. Ten thousand hits a month indicates a lively interest in the topic. From farmers markets to farm stores and online arrangements, consumers are finding ways to connect directly with local farmers.

Buy organic

Growing food organically avoids the use of pesticides and herbicides. Organic shoppers are sometimes motivated by concern for their personal health, but it's always been an environmental issue as well.

A U.S. Department of Agriculture certification program initiated in 2002 has made organic food more uniform and widely marketed. Marvin Lyons, produce director for Bigg's Markets, said that the organic food sector is still growing despite the economy.

Lyons said it does especially well for his chain of grocery stories because they received organic certification for their organic produce operations in 2007.

Whole Foods markets nationwide also carry a wide variety of organic choices, and often local farmers use organic practices.