Greenpeace's top three tips for green holiday eating

1) Avoid genetically engineered ingredients

Genetic engineering (GE) involves inserting genes from one organism into another, unrelated organism. The results are not found in nature and cannot be achieved by traditional cross-breeding techniques.

GE crops are usually sold by multinational corporations and are most often designed to survive repeated applications of specific, patented weed or pest killing chemicals. While there are many environmental risks associated with GE foods, the consequences for human health are still unknown.  There have been no long-term tests done to determine the impact of GE food on human health.

Countries including China, Indonesia, and Australia as well as the entire European Union are protected by existing or proposed regulations for labelling GE food. In Canada, even though more than 70 per cent of non-organic processed foods contain GE ingredients, there are no rules requiring the mandatory labelling of food containing GE ingredients. Right now, Greenpeace is campaigning to label GE food in B.C. and Quebec, where recent public opinion polls have shown overwhelming support for mandatory labelling.

To avoid GE foods in your holiday meals, read the ingredients on non-organic processed foods. If they contain corn, soy, canola or cottonseed oil or their derivatives, chances are they contain GE ingredients. There have also been incidents of product contamination with experimental GE rice. Although no rice contamination has been found in Canada to date, that doesn't mean we're off the hook - Canadian regulatory authorities just aren't looking that hard.

Fresh fruit and vegetables in Canada are generally not genetically engineered. Some exceptions include papayas imported from the U.S. and possibly corn. Unfortunately, there is no way to tell whether or not you are looking at a GE papaya or a traditional papaya, unless, of course, you are buying organic. Organic produce and products are not allowed to contain GE ingredients.

2) Choose organic, choose local, choose fair trade

Try to incorporate as much organic food as possible in your holiday meal. Organic food is GE-free and grown without synthetic pesticides and fertilizers. There are number of third party certifiers in Canada who certify products as organic. Look for certified organic food at the grocery story, at your local co-op and at farmer's markets. There are also increasing numbers of organic home delivery services.

While organic food is almost always the best choice, you should also consider where and by whom it was produced. Locally grown food is easier to trace to small, responsible producers. And, since it doesn't need to be transported as far, it cuts down on greenhouse gas emissions.

One great option for fresh food year round is Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) which allows you to pre-buy - in essence invest - in a farmer's annual crop. The dividends: farm fresh food, as soon as it's ripe. To find a local CSA, search the Internet or ask at your local food co-op.

For fun, try to prepare a holiday meal out of ingredients from within a hundred miles of your home. For tips, visit www.100milediet.org.

For information on where to buy organic food, visit the Canadian Organic Growers or check out the Eat Well Guide.

Whenever possible, opt for fair trade certified food products. Commonly certified products include coffee, tea and chocolate. For more information on agricultural workers in Canada, visit www.justicia4migrantworkers.org.

3) Choose plant-based meals

Okay, this might not be good news for a lot of you turkey-lovers out there, but sometimes the truth hurts: meat, poultry and seafood production are, in general, bad for the planet.

Let's take beef. Vast amounts of grain must be fed to cattle to produce even a small amount of animal protein for human consumption. According to the Worldwatch Institute, the total amount of soy and grain fed to livestock in the U.S. each year could feed everyone on the planet approximately five times over.

And cattle cultivation doesn't just waste food: it wastes land, too. According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, livestock production now accounts for an astonishing 30 per cent of the planet's surface area (including both grazing areas and arable land to grow crops for feed).

Then there's the issue of meat and climate change. Researchers at the University of Chicago calculate that if an average, meat-eating American switched to a plant-based diet, they would eliminate approximately 1.5 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions each year.

Now let's look at seafood. Industrial fishing methods can be notoriously destructive, destroying deep ocean ecosystems and depleting fisheries at lightning pace. Luckily, SeaChoice has put together a fantastic downloadable seafood shopping guide for Canadian fish lovers.

Bottom line: if you're up for it, plan at least one plant-based holiday meal. Visit www.goveg.com for recipes and resources.