Eating Green(s)

1. At one level, I do certainly try to buy food locally grown in a sensitive manner for the environment. From the spring to the fall, I buy my produce from a local farm stand and throughout the year I consume a minimum amount of prepared foods (especially by American standards). And in Safeway, I tear through the store looking for apples actually grown in this hemisphere (harder than you think). Also, I consciously limited my consumption of meat products in recent years because of the carbon-intensive nature of the industry.

But environmental concerns are secondary to nutritional value and quality in my buying choices at the supermarket. While for much of the year they go hand-in-hand (fresh produce generally has more nutrients the closer it is consumed to harvest), that also means in the winter I will purchase imported produce. And while this concern works in well with organically grown produce, my finances unfortunately preclude the purchase of often more expensive products. Instead, I try to strategically buy organic produce based on health concerns. When it comes down to, however, I will always end up with the produce from some far-flung place if need be. I also will not completely eliminate meat from my diet, as animal protein is nutritionally superior to other protein sources.

It has been shown, however, that buying local does not necessarily mean the choice is significantly better than buying produce grown elsewhere. The energy that goes into the actual transportation of some foodstuffs, especially those part of an necessarily efficient supply chain, may pale in comparison to the actual energy it takes to grow the produce. Though it is certainly irrational to import foods that can be grown locally in an efficient manner, buying local does not necessarily make for a substantially smaller impact. Of course there are many reasons to buy local, but individuals should not always condemn others or themselves for buying some foods grown far

2. Of the most recent items I have consumed, the burger I had probably required the greatest use of resources and the most waste produced. At a half-pound, it's double the amount of meat I usually ingest on a normal day. Cattle farming, especially in this country, is notorious for releasing a huge amount of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and requiring much in the way of resources to grow the cows and get the meat to our plates. I was tempted to respond by saying the imported beer I had this weekend was worse in the way of environmental impact, but I think that beer prepared in a traditional manner in a region where oats and hops grow very well (Belgium) would not have the same impact despite the transit requirements.