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    Best Green Apps for Foodies

    By | Shine Food – Thu, Apr 26, 2012 11:42 AM EDT

    When it comes to eating well for the planet and my health, I try and do my best to educate myself and stay up-to-date on the latest research. However, there's so much information out there that it can be a chore to try and remember it all! Listed below are a handful of my favorite apps for accessing all the knowledge I need to make the right choices when I'm out and about.

    Locavore (Free; iPhone and Android)
    One of the advantages of modern transportation is the availability of different fruits and vegetables year-round-regardless of what season (or hemisphere) you're in. Mango salsa on your salmon in the dead of winter? Not a problem! Not in Australia? No worries, mate! Unfortunately, we often lose sight of the carbon footprint that results from those exotic fruits offered at your local grocery store. Using GPS, Locavore searches for in-season, local food by pinpointing farmers' markets near you.

    Related: 10 Weight Loss Myths You Shouldn't Believe

    Seafood Watch (Free; iPhone and Android)
    Picking the best seafood can be a confusing task. Seafood Watch helps you choose the most ocean-friendly fish at your favorite restaurants or the fish counter by providing the most up-to-date information about how items are fished and farmed. It also has a sushi guide that lists fish by Japanese name as well as common market name.

    Dirty Dozen (Free; iPhone)
    As much as we'd all love to eat organic 100% of the time, it's just not practical for the wallet. The Dirty Dozen app is a great guide to the fruits and vegetables with the most and least pesticide residue-allowing you to make an informed decision on when to splurge on organic and when conventionally-grown produce is sufficient.

    Label Lookup (Free; iPhone)
    These days, grocery store shelves are lined with endless products all labeled with marketing claims to lure you into purchasing them. Narrow it down to the healthy foods zone and it becomes even more confusing-how do you separate fact from fiction? What labels can you trust? Label Lookup researched about 200 different claims and breaks it down so you can be an informed consumer.

    Farmers Market Finder (Free; iPhone)
    This app easily locates over 2,700 farmers markets across the country and provides all the important information-like hours, days, times, contact information and types of produce, meat/poultry, plants, flowers, baked goods, etc.

    Related: 5 New Ideas for Bacon

    Whole Foods Market Recipes (Free)
    So now that you can locate all your organic food, how are you going to prepare it? The Whole Foods Market Recipes app is like having a dietitian and chef in your pocket. You can search by ingredients or dietary preference and find recipes with nutritional information and cooking instructions. There's also a shopping list function and a locator for-what else?-a Whole Foods near you!

    -By Jennifer Sweenie

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