Season’s Eatings : Give Mother Earth a present when choosing menus for the holidays: Serve less meat, more organic vegetables.

We have a captive audience today. Everyone’s thinking about food, so today’s Earthwatch is devoted to local holiday eating and the environment. And tips for environmentally correct dining year-round.

“The holidays are a good opportunity to talk about diet and ecology,” said Silvina Cox, a Thousand Oaks registered dietitian. “The Pilgrim’s emphasis was on natural foods from the earth--squash, corn, sweet potatoes--not meat. Don’t make meat the star of your holiday plate, use it as a side dish.”

About vegetables she stressed that “fresh is best all the way around . . . less packaging, less waste.” Equipped with a master’s degree in public health and a credential as a cardiovascular nutritionist, Cox is a dietitian at Los Robles Hospital in Thousand Oaks. She is also editor of the newsletter for professional dietitians in Ventura County. Cholesterol is what she’s mainly against, but there are other reasons for making turkey and ham a smaller part of the holiday meal.

Red meats, for instance take a lot of precious California water to produce. Fully a third of the water in use in our state is “drunk” by fields of alfalfa and forage crops. Nationally, an incredible 75% of all grain harvested is fed to livestock.

Modern animal farming methods cause problems for man and beast. Fortunately conditions aren’t so bad for us in California, as they are, for instance, in Bill Clinton’s home state where animal waste run-off from crowded chicken operations is polluting the water. California climate permits the raising of lots of free-range chickens and turkeys.

Gary Flanagan of Shelton’s Premium Poultry in Pomona calls our local methods “the good ole-fashioned state of the art.” His free-range birds--marketed under the slogan “Our Chickens Don’t Do Drugs”--require no antibiotics and artificial growth hormones, which factory-raised fowl are given to prevent sickness and scrawniness.

In case you’re wondering, Flanagan doesn’t feed his birds organically grown grain. He’d need half a million tons per year. And the grain brokers he tried to buy from said they would only be able to supply a tenth of that figure. But for you and me--not for the birds--he’s found enough 100% naturally grown grain to prepare an organic dressing mix--corn bread or whole wheat--for turkey stuffing.

If you really want to heed Silvina Cox’s advice about environmentally correct food for celebrations this holiday season, buy organic. Our county is blessed with health-food stores and certified farmers’ markets where the selection is excellent. These fruits and vegetables are produced using methods that don’t pollute earth, air and water.

At holiday time, sweet potatoes appear frequently on the menu. Eat them. Last month this humble tuber was declared the most nutritious vegetable by the Washington-based Center for Science in the Public Interest.

And if you really, really want to be environmentally correct during your holiday break--and do your body a favor at the same time--heed the advice Cox showed me in the California Dietetic Assn.’s “Holiday Survival Guide.”

It seems that certain exercises after dinner burn up varying numbers of calories. Walking or waltzing each uses up about 100. But gardening, that is to say going to the trouble of growing veggies organically, burns up 170 in just half an hour of weeding.

ADVICE ON EATING RIGHT

For a free copy of the California Dietetic Assn.’s “Holiday Survival Guide” with party tips such as substituting sushi for mini-quiches, call (310) 459-9343. They also have a new 1992 edition of “Diets That Work” rating 43 popular programs--$10.95.

For year-round advice call the Consumer Nutrition Hotline operated by the American Dietetic Assn., (800) 366-1655. You can talk directly to a registered dietitian. They’ll even tell you how to make a low-cholesterol coffee cake.

In Ventura County, organically grown food is available at Lassen’s Foods in Ventura, Oxnard and Camarillo. Mrs. Gooch’s in Thousand Oaks also carries organic foods, and you should ask for their special holiday organic food recipe and buying guide.

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Certified farmers’ markets are held weekly around the county. Many organic growers attend the following markets:

Ventura County Certified Farmers’ Markets:

* Wednesdays, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.; Montgomery Ward parking lot at Main Street and Mills Road, Ventura.

* Saturdays, 8:30 a.m. to noon; corner of Santa Clara and California streets, Ventura.

* Thursdays, 4 to 7 p.m.; Janss Mall at Hillcrest Drive and Moorpark Road, Thousand Oaks.

Oxnard Downtown Certified Farmers’ Market:

* Thursdays, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.; corner of 7th and B streets.

Camarillo Certified Farmers’ Market:

* Saturdays, 8 a.m. to noon; parking lot at the Senior Nutrition Center, 2220 Ventura Blvd.

Ojai Certified Farmers’ Market:

* Sundays, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.; parking lot at Bank of America, 307 E. Ojai Ave.