Greetings! Today's challenge is to lessen my impact through food consumption. As the No Impact Challenge points out, eating habits are one of the largest environmental impacts in which every individual has an influence. For more context, one only needs to look at our globe's population. Currently Earth's population is around 6,928,198,253 people (CIA World Factbook). Assuming each person eats only one meal a day, that is 48,497,387,770 meals in a week and 2,521,864,164,000 in a year.
In addition to our ritual food consumption, with food we also impact the globe through our energy use. With globalization, we continue acquiring food from further distances. As John Hendrickson points out in his article, the average food item travels 1,500 miles to reach the plate (“Energy use in the US Food System: A Summary of existing research and analysis”). In a society with climbing fuel prices the great trek of our food does not seem to me the wisest use of our resources. Further, purchasing our food from far distant locations takes money away from our local food sources such as farmers and farmers markets.
Keeping these ideas in mind, my new challenges beginning today are the following:
- Take your food list from yesterday and calculate your carbon footprint (http://www.eatlowcarbon.org/). Did you eat anything grown within 250 miles? Find out what's in season locally. How much non-organic meat and dairy products did you consume? How much packaged food did you buy? Chose five items from yesterday that were not produced locally and try swapping them out for items that are produced locally.
- This week change your diet. Try veganism, eating locally, eating organically or simply reducing the amount of meat you consume. Since you aren't buying packaged products (which create trash), your choices may be easier than you think.
- Dig in! Bicycle to a farmer's market. Learn some new recipes. Invite friends over for a potluck.
- Keep track of your food choices. Ask yourself throughout the day: what are the most challenging aspects of adjusting your food habits?
- Write down five things for which you are grateful.
(Source: No Impact Experiment How To Manual)
First thing I did today was calculate my “foodprint” from my diet yesterday. Below are my results.
- Breakfast: Life cereal and soy milk – 1224 CO2e points
- Lunch: Turkey sandwich with tomato on wheat bread – no data available
- Supper: Spaghetti (noodles, hamburger meat, canned sauce, onion and Italian spices) – no data available
Unfortunately, the website that the No Impact Week manual provided does not have a wide variety of food options. Thus, I was only able to calculate my breakfast consisting of cereal and milk. Based upon the high carbon dioxide output, I can deduce that the rest of my meals produced similar environmental impacts.
In addition to calculating the carbon dioxide output, I can also determine how environmentally friendly my food choices are based on their travel distance. The only articles of food I know to be local (travel distance less than 250 miles) are the tomato, hamburger meat and onion. The tomato and onion I purchased at Bellews Market, a local produce stand in Spartanburg, SC. The hamburger meat was venison harvested in Winnsboro, SC. All other food I ate was packaged, processed and shipped long distances. I do not know the exact mileage but I deduce that since the brand names are from big corporations located across the country that they trekked far. Regardless, these items (bought previously) all were packaged and for that reason will not be replaced this week because I am not producing trash.
In light of today's challenges, I went to Bellews Market (carpooling) to purchase local food. I bought onions, bush beans, zucchini, squash and tomatoes. With my local venison, I cooked a stir-fry meal of vegetables and hamburger meat. I found this meal to be enjoyable. The food was flavorful and fresh. Best of all, this food was local and cheaper! Further, I made enough for leftovers tomorrow.
In addition to this meal, I also kept track of my food choices as directed by the No Impact guidelines. I ate a tomato sandwich for lunch. The tomato was locally grown. The sandwich bread however, was not. I chose to still use the bread though so it would not go to waste and also because I do not know where to buy local bread nearby. For supper, I ate the stir-fry described above. Based upon today only, I think the most difficult challenge of eating locally is finding the foods you want and need at a reasonable price. All the foods that I did buy locally were actually cheaper. Those I did not, such as bread, I do not know where to buy. Also, homemade and gourmet breads I have seen in the past tend to have higher prices. Still being in college, I have trouble justifying purchasing some of these food items that are local simply because I cannot afford them.
As the guidelines warned, today was a difficult challenge. Eating is a ritual activity and thus creates habits. Today shed light on some of those. I had to cut out my typical breakfast (cereal and milk) as well as inexpensive sandwich meat in order to be a “localvore.” While supporting local food is great, I think there needs to be additional incentives to make it more available such as lower prices and greater availability. For example, many produce items like bananas are readily available in grocery stores are inexpensive and also not grown locally. While an individual can substitute for a local fruit, the cost may be higher and thus make this change impossible.
In his article “Getting Fossil Fuels Off the Plate,” Michael Bomford points out that while eating local is good, we need to take an additional step. He says that “how food travels is much more important, from an energy perspective, than how far it travels” The Post Carbon Reader: Managing the 21st Century's Sustainability Crisis) He goes on to illustrate this point with bananas. “Far less energy is needed to import bananas by boat than to fly fresh from the same tropical starting point. A quick jaunt in the SUV to fetch a few of those bananas at the grocery store two miles down the road uses more fuel per banana than the journey of thousands of miles over water that brought them from their tropical home” (The Post Carbon Reader: Managing the 21st Century's Sustainability Crisis).
I think what Bombord asserts in his article is noteworthy. Eating local is great. The food is fresher, can require less energy and supports the local economy. Yet, we also need to keep in mind that how we acquire our food, near or far, can produce high energy costs. I do not have an answer of how to assimilate being a “localvore” and eating low-energy food from long distances, but I think they are both valid points that our society will continue to encounter.
To close today's blog entry, I will share another five things for which I am grateful.
- My soon graduation from Wofford College
- Talking with my aunt yesterday
- No headaches the past few days
- Freedom to choose my future
- Seeing my extended family in the next month
Until tomorrow,
Krista
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