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With vegetarian diets touted as the most “green” way to go, meat eaters who wish to make eco-friendly food choices may feel a bit left out. But there’s good news – you can eat meat and still be eco-conscious. Here are some tips for making earth-friendly choices when buying meat.

1. Red meat

Most beef cattle in the U.S. are raised on feed lots, which raises environmental concerns. Feed lot cattle are also given antibiotics to prevent illnesses that flourish in such crowded conditions, raising concerns about antibiotic-resistant bacteria and residues of the antibiotics in the meat. But there are options for red meat eaters who are concerned about the planet.

- Grass-fed beef is raised on the natural diet of the bovine: namely, grass. Grass-fed beef is leaner and more healthful than conventional beef. In a way, you are eating the plants that the cattle eat when you consume grass-fed beef; it is high in vitamins E and C, and, like the grass, it has Omega-3s. Generally, farmers who raise grass-fed cattle do so without the use of antibiotics or hormones, but there are no strict guidelines or regulations that define “grass-fed” and all it encompasses as yet.

-Organic beef may or may not be grass-fed, but a farmer who labels his beef “organic” must meet strict criteria and follow exacting standards. Organic beef, though without hormones or antibiotics, is usually fed a diet of organic corn and grains. While it is good that the grains are organic, such a diet still makes the meat less nutritious than grass-fed beef.

-Free-range beef may be organic or grass-fed or both, but it is not necessarily either. The term “free range” simply denotes a certain amount of access to the outdoors allotted to each animal for a certain amount of time each day. Still, it is a more eco-conscious choice than conventional beef since the animals are not raised in feed lots.

-Bison, or buffalo, are a natural form of grass-fed beef that has been available for centuries. It has many of the same health benefits as grass-fed cattle.

2. Poultry

Chicken and turkey also come in “free range” and “organic” varieties. It can be difficult to sort through the labels, since there is little regulation regarding claims such as “all natural” or “free range.” For chicken to be labeled “organic,” however, strict standards must be met. Thus, it’s probably the most eco-friendly choice to go with organic chicken.

3. Fish

Concerns about mercury content and PCB contamination have made some people leery of fish, but its many health benefits make this food worth pursuing. Some fish varieties are more eco-conscious (and thus healthful) than others. The Environmental Defense Fund has a website that lists fish in order of possible contaminates. The EDF site also has detailed information about farm-raised fish versus wild-caught, and which one is the most eco-conscious for which species.

4. Buy locally where possible

Purchasing your meat from a local farmer pretty much guarantees it is not the product of a mass-production process or feed lot. Buying locally also means less gas was used to transport the animal(s) from farm to table. And finally, when you buy local meat you can speak directly to the farmer about his or her practices.

It is certainly possible to keep eating meat and be eco-conscious.

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