Far and away the most common New Year's resolution made by those looking to turn over a new leaf is to get healthier. This might mean catching more sleep, getting more exercise or planning for relaxation - but it almost always means resolving to eat healthier. One way to make sure we eat better is to consider where exactly our food is coming from.

Though nutrition labeling and sorting through lengthy lists of ingredients can be confusing, most of us know the right foods to eat in order become healthier. "Move more. Eat less. Get your five servings of fruits and vegetables daily." These are common remedies for dropping extra weight and getting fit. But did you know that choosing the right foods can also make for a healthier world, too?

Back in November I decided, after a year or more of pesco-vegetarianism, to become a vegan. I picked up a book called "Diet for a New America", and it changed my life. I checked it out to remind myself why I'd decided on a form of vegetarianism in the first place. Written by John Robbins, the book is a horrifyingly frank read about the miserable lives of the millions of animals who suffer so they we can eat them. Or eat from them. Debeaking, tail docking, starvation, deprivation of light, cruel overcrowding practices and inhumane slaughters are just some of the atrocities chronicled within the text. Robbins spares no detail in reporting on the ravages of factory farming. I cried more than once while reading it.

Robbins' report cemented my resolution to forgo meat from my diet, which was my intention all along. But what I didn't expect was to learn how dairy cows and laying hens are treated. I'd venture to say it is worse than those killed for their meat. The cows are forced to stay pregnant their entire lives, giving birth to calves that are taken from them immediately. They are pumped full of hormones and left chained to stalls that prevent them from lying down or even turning around. They live in darkness, never permitted fresh air or sunlight, and most become deranged due to the harsh and unnatural conditions. The hens are starved to force moulting which increases their laying productivity. They are subjected to endless hours of artificial light and kept in battery cages that are stacked high to the ceiling. The bottoms of their feet often become fused to the metal grates that they must stand on so that their waste can fall through. They debeak (slice the ends of their beaks off with hot blades) the laying hens because they have them so over-packed in the factories that the birds go insane trying to establish a pecking order, therefore injuring the hen, which is bad for egg production.

You'd think that milk sold as "organic" or eggs sold as "cage free" (or "free range") would mean that at least those animals don't suffer, but no. That is what I always thought. I bought the pricey cage free eggs because I imagined a happy pecking hen having a dirt bath in the sunshine, but I was mislead. Cage free hens are allowed only a few minutes of outside access a day, if that. Some are merely provided a tiny door that they may go through at some times of the day, but the area is so overcrowded that many of the animals can not get out. Some die trying. Eggs labeled as cage-free or free-range or organic all still allow starvation for forced moulting and the debeaking of birds. The eggs we pay three times as much for come from the same starved, mistreated birds as those in battery cages. The differences are minute.

"Diet for a New America" also chronicles how adopting a vegan diet can immensely benefit the environment. The United Nations has reported that a vegan diet can feed many more people than an animal-based diet. The U.N. also deems the livestock sector a major player in environmental destruction, responsible for 18 percent of greenhouse gas emissions measured in CO2 equivalent and over 8 percent of global water use. Expansion of livestock is said to be a key factor in deforestation and natural water contamination. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency notes that just one dairy cow every day produces about 120 pounds of manure, which is equivalent to the waste produced by 20–40 people. According to the Audubon Society, roughly 70 percent of the grain grown and 50 percent of the water consumed in the United States are used by the meat industry.

For me, veganism is not about making myself pure or holding myself to an impossible standard. It is about reducing suffering as much as I possibly can by choosing not to contribute to the ravages of land and animal that factory farming brings. Even if you could never visualize giving up ice cream or cheese forever, please take note that merely reducing your intake of animal products does a world of good for your body, the animals who have no voice, and the earth where we all are privileged to reside. You don't have to go 'whole hog', so to speak, to make a difference. So, resolve to eat healthy this year and feel good about what it does for more than just your physique.

Try it for one day and see what happens. Chances are, you'll feel energetic and healthy. And, you'll feel good about saving some animals and the environment.

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Ingredients:

• "Diet for a New America"
• Vegan food choices

Caring Time:

• 120 Minutes (depending upon how fast you read)

Cost:

• $14.95 (plus the cost of your yummy fruits and veggies

Results:

• Healthier animals
• Healthier environment
• Healthier you