If the thought of reducing your meat consumption makes your skin crawl just a little, there are at least some greener alternatives that allow you to have your steak and eat it too.

Rideau Farming produces and sells beef that is 100 per cent farm raised in a natural, traditional style. Their cows are grass-fed, then corn finished and free from hormones, antibiotics and steroids. Beef is dry aged for two to three weeks, fresh frozen and wrapped in environmentally safe butcher paper. The farm currently has special BBQ packages available for the summer season which include seven to 10 thick steaks in a variety of tender cuts, a couple of roasts weighing between two to three pounds each, 2- quarter-pound beef patties, six one-pound packages of ground beef and shish kabob-ready cubed meat in one pound packages.

Rideau Farming also does their best to maintain healthy environmental practices by participating in initiatives such as the Rural Clean Water Program and an Environmental Farm Plan through the Ontario government.

Learn more about their earth-conscious farming practices or place an order after the jump.

» Rideau Farming (Official Site)

It's evident that the news surrounding the beef industry as of late has been less than favorable, both from environmental and health perspectives. It's always a breath of fresh air to hear about a beef producers like La Cense, who are trying to change the perception of red meat by offering an organic product that doesn't contain the hormones and other additives you'll find in the typical grocery store selection.

La Cense takes a natural approach to ranching, meaning their animals are 100 per cent grass-fed, and because they also take care of the entire process themselves - from the ranching to the packing and selling of the meat - they can guarantee high quality. They even use a sustainable methods in their beef production!

La Cense cattle are raised in a healthy, more humane way, free from pesticides and antibiotics and are left to graze in open pastures on a huge Montana farm. And, because they are grass-fed, they are a lot healthier. As you know, we live in a country that is concerned with weight and as such, La Cense beef has fewer calories (for example, a 6 oz. steak has 100 fewer calories) and is high in omega 3 fatty acids, which enhances heart health and reduces the risk of obesity. La Cense is ideal for foodies who are concerned about the planet but don't want to give up flavor.

Hit the jump to learn more about La Cense beef (filet mignon and prime rib and steak burgers oh my!) and to place an order online.

» La Cense Beef (Official Site)

Eating organic food and following a vegetarian or vegan diet are both common practices of those trying to live a greener lifestyle. However, just because they're common doesn't necessarily make them the only way to be eco-friendly. According to this article written by Andrew Campbell, half the battle is properly educating people about how agriculture, the farming process and more specifically, how food is produced.

A few weeks ago my fiancée’s cousin from New Zealand came for a visit. Like many other families, a cousin coming half way around the world called for big meals, drinks on the deck, and lots of story telling.

But what made this even more interesting – was the fact this cousin is very vegetarian, all in the name of animal rights. When it comes to eggs and dairy, free-range and organic is the only way to go. And the same organic policy is in effect for most other foods.

Now being the farm kid of the group, you can bet we don’t see eye to eye on a few of these issues. To avoid a family fiasco though, neither of us brought up the subject and kept things as content as we could. However, just being around her, I was able to learn a couple of tough lessons fairly quickly. Lessons that I think each farmer and farm organization needs to realize.

First of all, as farmers, we must realize the consumer is always right. Now in the case of the belief of the mistreatment of animals, of course we know it’s not right – but the consumer believes they are and they prove that by where they spend their dollar. In the case of this cousin, she believes she is right by not buying any meat.

Second. There are more and more people who are getting so far removed from the farm they can’t even say they spent the summer at Grandma and Grandpa’s. This classic line from politicians works for the middle-aged population. It doesn’t work for those just wrapping up their college or university educations who have known nothing else but the suburbs. This is proven by a recent study asking urban-dwellers about agriculture. One of the numbers jumping out at me put 56 percent of respondents believing beef farmers properly fed and watered their animals. Does that mean 44 percent believe they don’t? That’s a real issue of people simply not knowing.

And third, this trend is only going to continue as these young consumers start their own families, sharing their traditions and values of the importance of an organic pine-nut salad versus a thick and juicy steak.

So how do we turn this around?

Hit the jump to read the rest of the article and find out!

» Farms.com

There's a good chance it may be too late to make reservations at a decent restaurant for Valentine's Day dinner. You don't have to lose points by looking unprepared though - and trust me, going out for a Happy Meal doesn't exactly paint the picture of planning ahead, unless you met your partner at a McDonald's or have some sort of other sentiment attached to the place.

Instead of going out to a restaurant that will undoubtedly gouge you in the spirit of the occasion, consider eating in the comfort of your own home. If you make the effort to set the mood it can be incredibly romantic. The ambience surely beats having to speak loudly across a table at an overcrowded dining spot anyway. The added benefit of avoiding the restaurant scene is that you can make dinner using locally or organically (or possibly both) produced food.

Visit your local Whole Foods Market (or any other local store specializing in organic food and products). These stores aim to support local growers by selling produce grown in and around the community. You'll find vegetables perfect for a salad and a side dish, and fruit that you can chop up to create a romantic fondue for two.

Your next step is finding a local butcher. Often times a small shop will sell meat from local producers as opposed to chain supermarkets which likely transport meat from faraway locations. Beef, chicken or lamb are all nice choices with plenty of simple ways to prepare them (if you're stuck, you can click on the links I just provided for some ideas).

And finally, pick up a bottle of wine or any other spirit produced in your area to complete the eat local theme. Earlier this week, we mentioned that you can inquire at your local store about wines produced in your city or state. If there aren't any available, consider purchasing an organic wine. These have become much more common and a store in your neighborhood should have at least a couple to choose from. You can also impress your date by checking out this tutorial for how to properly serve white wine.

» Whole Foods Market

"People love to eat their sausage and T-bones and hot dogs, but they don't want to know how they got to the plate. They refuse to come face to face with their food and where it comes from."

That quote is from this great article by Monica Eng in the Chicago Tribune and sums up the issues it addresses nicely.  In the piece Monica talks about after she read Michael Pollan's The Ominvore's Dilemma that she felt compelled to meet a challenge the book presents: to get in touch with your food and confront your fear over the death of the animals that produced it.

Others who attempt to follow the path stand a 50/50 chance of either ending up vegetarian or they go whole hog (sorry) with their omniverous ways and I think that's a good thing since each person's own morality plays a more direct role in their food choices.  You can either handle it or you can't.

You may love salmon, but could you kill and clean a live fish?  If you spent two days on a farm with pigs, would you still be able to stomach the idea of bacon for breakfast?  If you smelled the rotten berries used to make spreads, would you put jam on your toast ever again?

Two hundred years ago a Native American wouldn't think twice about eating the meat from an animal they killed with their bare hands.  But in our age of shrinkwrapped meat we don't like to even think about where it came from. 

And the issue extends beyond animal slaughter.  How many miles did our food travel to get to us?  What additives are in it?  Is it organic?  Was is produced sustainably?  Was it produced ethically?  Our choices in what we eat have a huge impact on the environment and our health.  For the sake of our planet and ourselves we should all look at what's in our fridge, figure out where this stuff comes from and ask ourselves the question, "Am I okay with this?"

Hit the jump to read the whole article from the Chicago Tribune and see where Monica's journey takes her and her family.  You might be inspired to take one of your own.

» Chicago Tribune

Ryan Giesel had one mission and wouldn't rest until he achieved it. He created a Facebook group called "If 100,000 people join, I'll eat every McDonalds value meal, #1-12." Ryan then learned the valuable lesson of how fast news can travel via the Internet. And just how sadistic 100,000 people can be, in that they would actually care enough to join a group to see someone make good on such an outlandish claim. Once major news outlets got ahold of Ryan's quest, his group ballooned to the required 100,000 members.

So did he follow through? Well he gave it his best shot, consuming 10 out of the 12 meals before giving up and subsequently throwing up what was surely a lovely combination of Big Mac, Quarter Pounder and 10 servings of fries. Apparently Ryan and the 99,999 other people in his group don't read Ecollo or the other sources of information proclaiming the high impact meat consumption has on the environment.  Or maybe they just don't care, because let's be honest, even if you're the most committed environmentalist/vegan around, isn't there still a morbid curiosity involved? PETA would probably wholeheartedly disagree.

In case you're wondering, the 12 meals Ryan attempted to force down included: Big Mac, 2 Cheeseburgers, Quarter Pounder with cheese, Double Quarter Pounder with cheese, Big N' Tasty, Double Cheeseburger, Chicken Ranch BLT Sandwich, Premium Chicken Club Sandwich, Chicken McNuggets (10 piece), Chicken Selects, Premium Chicken Classic Sandwich and Fillet-O-Fish. He made is as far as the Chicken Selects, somewhat understandably, because for many the mere thought of downing a Fillet-O-Fish on an empty stomach is too much to take, let alone with 10 full McDonald's meals already swirling around down there.

Just to provide a breakdown of the meat alone, the Eat Low Carbon Calculator estimates Ryan's binge-fest would generate nearly 42 pounds of carbon emissions (loosely based on seven cheeseburgers, two chicken sandwiches and an order of chicken tenders). That's pretty significant for one meal, albeit one excessively large meal. Most people don't typically eat that much every day, but imagine if this stunt inspired copycats. Yikes!

Perhaps Ryan should consider eating only locally-grown vegetables for the next month as an act of penance for his over-consumption. Then again, that's assuming he'll want to eat period anytime soon.

» So Good Blog