With the eloquent Karen Macklin on a four-week yoga retreat in Mexico — poor girl — you're stuck with me for the month. And in the spirit of Thanksgiving, I'm going to make my blogging debut with the topic on all of our minds today: food. For the next 24 hours, and really during the whole holiday season, we'll likely throw restraint to the wind and stuff ourselves with foods we swore off last New Years. I certainly will, and it might as well be seen as part of the spiritual path. (Like Jack Kornfield says: "Everything in moderation, including moderation.") But while we're indulging, we can maintain some compassion for the earth by shopping wisely. And because it's not always intuitive which food choices have the best impact on the environment — do you buy the organic pears from South America, or the local, conventional ones? — earlier this week, I asked the famous Michael Pollan, author of The Omnivore's Dilemma: What are the top three most important things to keep in mind for eating with optimum ahimsa toward the planet? What he said might surprise you.

1.) Eat less meat. Eliminating industrial meat — meaning, for the most part, non-organic — from your diet has as big an impact on your carbon footprint as trading in your SUV for a sedan.

2.) Stop buying processed food. It takes ten calories of fossil fuel to produce one calorie of processed food.

3.) Shop at the farmer's market or join a CSA. Because they have to travel, imported foods pump much more C02 into the atmosphere.

In the Bay Area we're practically surrounded by organic, locally-grown, non-processed, delicious food. Let's eat, drink, and be merry with a conscience. Happy Thanksgiving.