article: Does your food
cause gas?
Source: ZeroWaste
ZeroWaste is a publication of the Regional District of Nanaimo Environmental
Services.
Their website is: www.rdn.bc.ca
It used to be that most people obtained their food from
local sources. Today, however, food at our table can come from
as far away as New Zealand, Brazil or Thailand. Look at what's in your
cupboard or fridge and try to estimate how far your food has travelled.
All of this 'traffic' in food requires staggering amounts of fuel - generally by refrigerated airplanes or transport trucks.
According to the World Watch Institute, a typical Sunday meal in a mid-western U.S. state consisting of beef, potatoes and vegetables travels an average of 2577 kilometres. Researchers estimate that this 'gassy' food requires up to 17 times the petroleum and generates up to 17 times the transport-related carbon emissions than the same meal made from locally-grown ingredients.
By the time a head of lettuce grown in California reaches Toronto, for example, the energy it took to transport it amounts to 36 times the amount of energy it provides by eating it.
Food transportation is one of the fastest growing sources of greenhouse gas emissions. The growth in the distance food travels has also corresponded with an increase in food packaging, as food products are designed for longer journeys and shelf lives. In addition, there is a large amount of food waste, which unfortunately is not always composted.
One of the best ways to help slow climate change is to eat locally produced food, or better yet, grow your own food!
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