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November 28, 2005
"Fossil Foods"
A friend asked me a while back why it was important to buy locally-grown food. I stumbled through the answer (more fresh, in season, less fuel used in transport), but just came across an article that explains it much better. Also, the overwhelming reason would be to reduce the amount of fossil fuels used to produce what you eat. According to this article, we use as much fuel to grow and transport food now as we do to heat our homes and fill our gas tanks. Here's an excerpt on how to reduce this amount a bit:
First, eat lower on the food chain. That means more fruits and vegetables, and fewer meats and fish. Meats, poultry and fish contain necessary proteins, but most American diets contain too much protein - about twice the recommended amount. Since 80% of the grains go to feeding livestock, the amount of energy used indirectly to support our diet of double bacon cheeseburgers is staggering. And, if you do eat meat, then try to avoid animals grown in feedlots or factory pens. They take far more energy calories to raise than free-range, grassfed critters, which have only about a third of the embedded energy.
Second, eat more fresh foods and fewer processed foods. Fruits and vegetables again, but also whole grains, legumes and other less-processed foods, have much less embedded energy. In general, the more packaging, the more processing - and the more energy associated with its production.
Third, buy local. Incredibly, the food items on U.S. grocery store shelves have traveled an average of 1,500 miles. And some foods are much worse. Table grapes grown in Chile, transported by ship to California and shipped by truck to Iowa have traveled over 4,200 miles. In response, some agricultural scientists have proposed ecolabeling programs based on CO2 rankings or broader lifecycle assessments.
Posted by csageday at November 28, 2005 08:52 PM