Think Globally - Eat Locally
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Can we help our environment by changing our shopping and eating habits? There have been several articles published in which the authors suggest that "every time we eat, we are essentially eating oil". They base this claim on the fact that virtually all the processes in our modern food system are dependent on this resource. As an example, for fruit and vegetable cultivation using modern methods, it is estimated that approximately 10 calories of energy are consumed to produce every calorie of food. Similarly, the energy consumed in transporting one calorie of the same product by plane from the U.S. to the U.K. is estimated to be 127 calories (Resurgence, 216, 1-7, 2003). These data do not include the energy consumed in packaging, refrigeration and distribution.
To put this into perspective, we can see there is a cost in oil consumed and greenhouse gas emitted in bringing food to our dinner plates. A study conducted at the Swedish Institute for Food and Biotechnology showed that 52 oil-consuming transport and process steps took place in growing tomatoes and converting them to ketchup; furthermore, there was involvement of the following countries: Sweden, Italy, the Netherlands, the U.K, Japan, Belgium, the U.S., and Denmark (Swedish Institute of Food and Biotechnology, Gothenburg, 1996). In another study, the authors estimated that the CO2 (carbon dioxide) emitted in producing, processing, packaging and distributing the food consumed by a family of four in the U.K. amounted to about 8 tonnes annually (Building Research Establishment, Garston, U.K., 1998). If we use this value for a similar family of four in the City of Kingston, it appears likely that we could partly achieve our target for the One Tonne Challenge to reduce greenhouse gases by simply making adjustments in our food choices.
There is clearly an environmental benefit in local sourcing of food in terms of reduced transportation requirements. The One Tonne Challenge calls each of us to do our share in reducing our annual CO2 emissions by one tonne. The preceding discussion shows what we can do by eating more locally produced, rather then imported food, with concomitant benefits to local farmers and the economy. So, when we next visit the supermarket and are deciding whether to buy local or foreign produce, let's reflect on the Challenge and choose accordingly.
