The Answer is the Fork.

Last week, the International Panel of Sustainable Resources Management, a part of the United Nations Environment Program, released new statistics on the agriculture industry and its impact on the planet.

Achim Steiner, head of the UN Environment Program, said "agricultural production accounts for a staggering 70 per cent of the global freshwater consumption, 38 per cent of the total land use and 14 per cent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions."

Years have passed since the ad above was published, and in that time, little has changed. As the world's population increases and emerging markets produce wealthier middle class families, the consumption of meat has never been higher. Western lifestyles devoid of conservation are being mimicked all over the world. So what can we do as individuals to help this cause and even better our health?

The UN suggests being more vegetarian. I'll admit, it will be hard for me to become a vegetarian, because many of my favourite foods have meat, like pizza and donairs, but reducing my intake on these foods would help my moral values of environmental sustainability and my waistline.

Here are a few simple diet tips that will help you save the planet:

1. Go vegetarian for a day: A former co-worker of mine did this every Sunday not for environmental reasons, but for health reasons. Red meat is the main cause of obesity. Men who regularly eat red meat tend to have beer bellies, even if they don't drink beer.

2. Buy locally: It's often recommended to buy locally for economical reasons. You can save a lot of cash buying at the farmer's market and you are providing for your fellow neighbours. But buying locally is also healthier and better for the environment. It requires limited transportation and you can ask the grower directly if they use pesticides or not. Hopefully you get an honest answer.

3. Plant a garden: Fun, good exercise, and the food tastes way better. Growing your own food ensures that the food you are eating has no chemicals on it. You also save hundreds of dollars a year on food and driving. Ever run out of carrots and don't feel like driving to the store? I know I have. Now, just go to your backyard and get a few. Wash and eat.

4. Drink tap water: Many people have succumb to the marketing campaigns of bottled water producers. Unless you live in a remote village with no water infrastructure, consider drinking tap water. Bottled water requires fossil fuels for transportation and bottles. Only 20 per cent of bottles are recycled, and many of these bottles still end up in landfills, sometimes shipped thousands of miles to India or China. Blind taste tests performed across the United States showed that tap water was highly preferred. The bottled water industry is less regulated than our city's tap water. So please, drink tap water. It's safe and affordable. And 1/3 of all bottled water companies use tap water as their source, not the pristine mountains and lakes. A future blog is already in the works.

I don't think the UN was asking us to make extreme changes to our life, but these four minor adaptations above can reduce global greenhouse gases by 25 per cent!

Facts on Agriculture and Our Food
Before you leave, here are some other facts about meat that you might want to know.

- Pound for pound, beef produces 13 times more greenhouse gases than chicken and 57 times more than potatoes.

- One hamburger produces the same amount of greenhouse gases as driving 16 km or 10 miles.

- Vegetarians have a 97 per cent less chance of heart disease.

- Reducing meat can reduce cancer by 59 per cent.

- The body uses four times more energy to digest meat, making you hungrier later on.

- 69 per cent of the world's water usage is for irrigation, at least 15 per cent is not sustainable.