Making Smart Food Choices: The Planet Will Thank You For It

By Melanie Potter

In buying locally grown food, the environmental impact of that food was never a focus for me. It was more about engaging with and supporting my local community, while eating healthily. What’s more, who wants to spend any time shopping in the sterile, plastic environment offered by the supermarkets, or the stupidmarket as a friend refers to them, when you can make a day of it at your fresh food market that offers a range of products from independent stall holders, get a great lunch with a great atmosphere to boot?

In researching the environmental aspects of shopping locally, I came across a lot of claims on both sides of the fence. The term food miles is a concept used often. The deal is the more miles your food has travelled to get to you; the worse it is for the environment. Richard Pirog of the Leopold Centre for sustainable Agriculture has reported than in America it takes something like 1500 miles for the average fresh food item to get to the dinner table. The less your food travels, the less fossil fuels are needed, and the lower your carbon footprint - right? However, this view is being argued due to the unsustainable nature of producing foods in environments where they are not well suited.

A number of these studies are actually suggesting that just because something is grown locally, doesn’t mean that it’s better for the environment. A recent study by engineers at the Carnegie Mellon University in the US looked at the major food groups and the total amount of green house emissions associated with food production; from raising or growing through to distribution. This study found that a whopping 83% of an average household’s food related carbon footprint was accounted for by the processes involved in producing the food not by its transportation. Whether or not an item is sustainably or organically produced can actually make more or a difference than actually where the item was produced.

Organic farming practices can actually reduce the amount of carbon in the atmosphere, while conventional techniques often actually add carbon

Just to make the issue more complex, there is more to consider than just greenhouse gas emissions. First of all farming should be sustainable, that means it should be appropriate to the local environment in terms of its impact. It should be measured by how it enriches soil, protects air and water quality, while at the same time minimising energy consumption. In eating locally the food choices we make should also support this, as just because it’s local doesn’t mean it’s sustainable. In Australia local government have allowed crops that require large amounts of water such as rice and cotton to grow in areas that have been affected by drought for much of the last decade. As a result, water needed to flow down the major river systems in the East have been severely limited, to the detriment of the eco system and traditional crops likes citrus and fruit. This is one example where eating locally isn’t always the best environmental choice.

The whole concept of sustainable farming goes hand in hand with the principles of organic food; the production of crops and the rearing of livestock without the use of chemicals or artificial additives. Organic farming is about doing things the natural way. While I was aware that organic food was generally grown without pesticides, chemicals and antibiotics, I wasn’t aware how much of an environmental cost was involved with industrial farming and the use of these additives. Their use represents the largest component of green house emissions in industrial farming, as much as 40 percent! But the environmental damage doesn’t stop there. Pesticides and other harmful chemicals end up in ground water and this runoff pollutes our water system with devastating effects upon ecosystems and even human health. The benefits of sustainable, organic farming also extend to the preservation of green space, thereby limiting suburban sprawl. In maintaining our green space we allow a greater diversity of wildlife and leave something of the natural environment for everyone to enjoy.

What has become pretty clear to me amongst the debate over food sourcing and the environment is that our food choices have such an important part to play. We need to start thinking about food. It’s about making that choice to eat sustainably and letting that choice guide you in sourcing suitable local organic produce. Consider that sourcing all of your food from local producers is not necessarily the best thing for the environment and your community. Ask yourself, if I buy this particular product from a local grower, am I causing more harm than if I picked the imported option? Educate yourself about food and its place in your community. Also, think about the way you yourself source that food. Can you find a market that offers a variety of stalls, providing a greater amount of your food needs in one place? When it comes to making your food choices, it all seems pretty easy then. Think sustainable, think local, think organic; think about your Environment!

Commit to thinking more about your food choices. Commit to buying more locally produced foods, or commit to buying organically and sustainably produced foods. Or even better yet, commit to doing both of these actions next time you go grocery shopping!