“From an environmental standpoint, Paleo’s ‘Let them eat steak’ approach is a disaster,” writes Elizabeth Kolbert of the New Yorker. And while Paleo enthusiasts like to call agriculture the worst disaster in human history, she continues, they are the real eco-deviants, eating lots of meat and raising the demand for cows that burp methane and poop nitrous oxide. MORE: The Real Paleo Diet Was Actually Super Gross  It’s a compelling read and hard to argue with. But let’s try. Sure, thoughtlessly consuming lots of grain-fed cows that were trucked to you across six states would not be good for the long-term health of the planet. But true Paleo-diet followers are also among the most conscientious meat eaters you’ll ever meet. They emphasize grass-fed, free-range beef, pork, and poultry, which, while still more ecologically problematic than a vegetarian diet, is a step in the right direction. “Paleo eaters tend to be more environmentally friendly, as we focus on eating happy food,” says Arsy Vartanian, who runs Rubies & Radishes, a website devoted to the Paleo lifestyle. “‘Happy food’ means animals that are raised in their natural environment, living a happy life. This means cows, chickens, and pigs raised on pasture, eating grass, insects, and farm scraps and vegetables grown free of pesticides on sustainable farms. We also focus on eating local, which is a great help to the environment, by decreasing the carbon footprint.” Of course, it’s not difficult to find people who would argue these points, contending that any meat consumption, including the supposedly holier-than-thou grass-fed and free-range, is still bad for the environment. To this, many Paleos counter that growing the amount of soy, grain, and beans to feed the world enough protein presents its own war over who is doing more environmental damage. It’s not an argument that’s likely to be settled anytime soon. In the meantime, we asked Robb Wolf, the author of The Paleo Solution: The Original Human Diet, for his top two tips for living the eco-friendly Paleo life.

  1. Buy pastured, local meat. “Most of the energy input involved with the current production model involves feeding grains to cattle,” he says. “Also, 80% of the antibiotics used in the US are given to feedlot cattle. If folks are concerned about antibiotic-resistant bacteria, it’s impossible to support grain-fed meat.”
  2. Try eating “snout to tail.” “Our grandparents and great-grandparents ate ’the whole critter,’” he says. “This practice involves less waste but is much healthier as we get a broad mix of nutrients when we eat organ meats.” So once you’ve cleaned that rib eye of meat, he advises, “make bone broth.” For further reading on Paleo lifestyle and sustainability, check out Wolf’s 2012 opus on the topic here.