Counting calories, counting carbon

When I'm shopping at the store for food, my first consideration is what I would like to eat. This is perhaps a more complicated procedure than for many people, as I'm possibly the most picky eater ever (not by choice, I try everything!). After I figure out what my unwilling taste buds will allow me to offer them, I usually think about trying to be healthy. This usually is merely a fleeting thought, probably because I still don't REALLY know what healthy is. That said, I usually try to get a few veggies, some fruits, and whole wheat. Unfortunately I love cheese which isn't really a great diet staple, but...meh. I can actually say that I really try my best to think about the environment while shopping; as a fairly laid back person, I can actually say that I got in a real fight with someone over the importance of carefully considering diet choices. I've tried to be a vegetarian since I was 13 but always succumbed to the temptations of chicken and cheeseburgers. Finally, five months ago I stopped eating meat, and can say now that I've done it, its not really that hard (still craving chicken a little...). That's an important aspect of an environmental diet, I think, in the contribution of factory farms to carbon emissions and toxic runoff (I've also been thinking about if I would eat meat from local, family farms. I'm fairly sure I would still abstain, just because I feel a little weird devouring the flesh of a formerly living animal. That said, I don't condemn others peoples choices on this matter as long as they've carefully considered the issue). In terms of other environmental considerations, I try to buy organic foods (although the organic label has really lost a lot of legitimacy these days) and buy fruit in season only. I don't have the money to shop exclusively at farmers markets or Whole Foods, but I try to support local markets as much as possible. The food tastes great! Unfortunately, I don't have a lot of extra time to prepare complicated vegetable stews and stuff, so I'm often stuck with pasta.

In the last few days I've had a lot of really crappy food. Today I ate a candy bar, a bag of chips, a bagel and an enormous plate of pasta. Yesterday, I had leftover Chinese food, a bag of chips, and pasta. Hands down though, the biggest environmental crime I've committed is drinking Coke. I am, admittedly, addicted to that stuff and drink it pretty much every day all day. Coca Cola is a really disgusting company from their social justice issues in Africa and Latin America to their avowed commitment to dispensing bottled tap water around the world. Supporting them at all financially is something I really regret and am trying, actively, to change.