A thought-provoking tip from Michael Bloch at
www.greenlivingtips.co.uk.
It's incredible that we can enjoy many foods out of season and
at relatively low cost; but the price paid in terms of
environmental damage can be high.
The environmental impact is mainly related to freight and
shipping - more trucks, more planes, more ships, more consumption
of oil and more greenhouse gas emissions. Also, food imported from
some countries may have been grown in unsustainable ways. For
example, rainforests may have been cleared, toxic effluent released
into the environment from processing and inappropriate use of
pesticides and herbicides applied to crops.
In a report from the UK Department for the Environment, Food and
Rural Affairs, it was stated that food miles increased by 15%
between 1992 and 2002. 95% of fruit and 50% of the vegetables in
the UK are imported.
According to a report on the Australian Conservation Foundation
web site, the energy used to import food often outweighs the energy
value of the food itself. The ACF states that it takes around 1,000
kilojoules of energy to ship 170 kilojoules worth of strawberries
from Chile to the United States. The food for an average meal for a
North American has travelled well over a thousand miles and
possibly many times higher if the meal contains out of season
fruits or vegetables. It's simply not a sustainable approach to our
diets.
Take a look in your cupboard and freezer. You may be
surprised how many food items that you think are grown locally
aren't sourced from within your own country.
For years now, trade associations have been encouraging to buy
local. The reasons they usually give relate to quality or
supporting local industry - a very strong patriotic approach.
Important points they tend to leave out in their marketing
campaigns are the environmental, sustainability and food mile
aspects mentioned above. The introduction of these issues could be
enough to get many more people buying more local products. If
you're a local producer, introduce these elements into the
marketing of your own goods.
You can take action on your next shopping trip. Try to buy local
where you can - even if it's just one or two more products that you
regularly use. Read labels on cans and learn more about what foods
are in season within your country and try to utilize those more as
there will be less chance of you accidentally purchasing imported
foods. Bear in mind also that out of season foods grown locally may
require huge amounts of resources for production e.g. the heating
of greenhouses.
Better still, consider starting a vegetable garden for your back
yard. It will greatly reduce your food mile impact from thousands
of miles to a few feet, and save you money! And remember to avoid
taking the car to the supermarket if it's just for a light load -
the energy that takes will be far more than the energy the food
will give back to you!