With the savory scent of summer grilling in the air, here's how to pick the best meat, fish, fowl and veggies for your outdoor cooking. Article written by David Worthman, published on The Green Guide.

As the days grow longer and warmer, grillers across the country will be sizzling and flipping their way through millions of burgers, chicken pieces and fish fillets. Americans eat, on average, 67 pounds of beef and 59.2 pounds of chicken per person, per year, most of it from "concentrated animal feeding operations" (CAFOs). This year, the American Public Health Association has asked that state governments impose moratoriums on new CAFOs due to the pollution and health threats posed by factory farms. Our seafood consumption, which hovered at around 15 pounds per capita until 2000, is expected to rise 26 percent by 2020—provided that fisheries aren't depleted by overfishing.

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Fortunately for the green griller, the market for organic meat, poultry and fish grew by 55.4 percent in 2004-5, and local, humane, wild and grassfed options are expanding too. Whatever you like to eat, here are some more sustainable choices you can make when shopping for your next barbecue.

Better Beef

While the hamburger remains an icon of American grilling, a third U.S. case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or "mad cow" disease, was discovered this March. Kansas-based Creekstone Farms has proposed to test every slaughtered cow for BSE, as is done in Japan (the U.S. and Canada test only one percent). When the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) refused permission, due to resistance from larger beef producers, Creekstone filed suit. "Why not let us do what customers are demanding?" asks Kevin Pentz, senior vice president of operations at Creekstone, which uses only vegetarian feed and sells an antiobiotic- and hormone-free line.

Meanwhile, both McDonald's and consumer groups are pressing the FDA to tighten rules intended to keep BSE-carrying animal parts out of cattle feed. "The FDA feed rule is not nearly strong enough," says Michael Hansen, senior scientist at Consumers Union. This summer, your safest choice in beef (or other meat) is certified organic by the USDA or "humane raised and handled" by Humane Farm Animal Care. Both must be raised on vegetarian feed, without antibiotics or growth hormones. Or, purchase meat from grassfed animals. For reputable companies, see the Meat Product Report at thegreenguide.com and www.thegreenguide.com

Prudent Poultry Picks

As of this writing, the H5N1 strain of avian or "bird" flu has not been found in this country, but several large commercial poultry farmers, accounting for 90 percent of U.S. chickens, have begun testing their flocks. The good news for backyard grillers is that, by properly handling and cooking chicken, you'll avoid not only the remote risk of bird flu but more commonplace hazards (see "Food Prep Tips," right). Campylobacter and salmonella were found in three-fourths of supermarket chickens sampled by Consumer Reports in 2003—and 90 percent of the campylobacter and 34 percent of the salmonella bacteria were antibiotic-resistant. As if that weren't enough, many chicken products are slightly laced with arsenic, which is added to their feed, a study this year by the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) found.

Your best poultry choices are USDA certified organic or humane, according to Joe Mendelson, Legal Director of the Center for Food Safety. For companies, see the Poultry Product Report at thegreenguide.com. For more on bird flu, see www.thegreenguide.com.

More Meat & Poultry Resources

*To find local producers of sustainable meat and poultry, go to www.eatwellguide.org and type in your zip code.

*GRACE Factory Farm Project (www.factoryfarm.org)

*IATP (www.iatp.org)

*"Meat-Industrial Complex" by Mark Winne, March 22, 2006, In These Times (www.inthesetimes.com)

*"Swine of the Times" by Nathanael Johnson, Harper's (www.harpers.org), May 2006

Finessing Fish

When it comes to seafood, green-conscious grillers face a confusing range of choices. Farm-raised or wild? Are contaminants of concern? Which fish come from well-managed vs. overharvested stocks?

Salmon remains ever-popular, and evidence continues to mount that the benefits of wild salmon outweigh those of their farmed counterparts. Independent tests in 2005 showed that seven out of 10 farmed salmon purchased at grocery stores contained 16 times the levels of polychlorinated biphenyls, a nervous system toxicant, as wild salmon.

Choose Alaska or California wild-caught salmon, in season, like grilling, from May to September. Also enjoy, low-mercury sardines, scallops, Pacific flatfish, Atlantic mackerel, farmed U.S. catfish, sturgeon or European certified-organic farmed fish. For more choices, see Smart Shopper's Fish Picks

Vital Vegetables

Soy burgers/dogs and slices of fresh vegetables add vitamins, color and fiber to your grill and are free of heart-damaging saturated fats. Do look for local, certified organic or "GMO-free" soy products (see "Should You Eat Soy?" GG #106.

Recommended Reading: The Omnivore's Dilemma, by Michael Pollan (Penguin, 2006, $26.95). See review at www.thegreenguide.com/books.