When people ask about my nearly meatless diet, I say, “I’m doing an experiment in futuristic eating.  Eventually we’re all going to have to eat this way.  I figured I’d start now.”*

If you really want to go green, the conventional thinking goes, buy a hybrid. Practically speaking though, there is a faster and cheaper option: shift to a low-carbon diet. The meal plan of the average American family accounts for 2.8 tons of CO2 emitted annually, compared with 2.2 tons for driving. Worldwide agriculture contributes some 30% of global greenhouse-gas emissions, far more than transportation. So when it comes to cutting your carbon footprint today, the truth is that what you eat is as important as what you drive. “If you can’t buy a Prius,” says Jonathan Kaplan of the Natural Resources Defense Council, “you can certainly eat like one.” (Via whatonearth, susheela.)

* Don’t get me wrong.  I haven’t lost my taste for the good stuff.  Ten days ago, I ate foie gras, bone marrow, and something called face bacon at Blue Hill at Stone Barns — known for its low-carbon, farm-to-table ethic — and I’m eating homemade Andouille sausage tonight — but only because my boyfriend knows the guy who raised the pig.