Our Food
At one time our Council reached close to 17,000 students in 89 schools within our local communities with our Earth Day presentations. Course topics included: buying local foods, reducing transportation, regulating polluters, and increasing local jobs.
The courses provided healthy food options, and we handed out lots of buy local pamphlets about who sells locally sourced food.
The courses provided healthy food options, and we handed out lots of buy local pamphlets about who sells locally sourced food.
It's not only how we choose to travel or heat our homes that determines our carbon footprint. What we eat also has a climate impact called our foodprint. Understanding the resources that go into producing our meals can make us more aware of the relationship between food and climate change, and help us make better choices.
There are several factors that contribute to food's climate impact, including: how low on the food chain it is, how much energy is used to produce it (and whether the food is grown organically or with chemical inputs), and how far it has to travel before it gets to the table.
Meat and climate change
Meat production is a major contributor to climate change. It is estimated that livestock production accounts for 70 per cent of all agricultural land use and occupies 30 per cent of the land surface of the planet. Because of their sheer numbers, livestock produce a considerable volume of greenhouse gases (such as methane and nitrous oxide) that contribute to climate change. In fact, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has estimated that livestock production is responsible for 18% of greenhouse gases.
The growing of livestock and other animals for food is also an extremely inefficient process. For example, it takes approximately five to seven kilograms of grain to produce one kilogram of beef. Each of those kilograms of grain takes considerable energy and water to produce, process, and transport. As meat consumption has grown around the world, so has its climate impact.
Chemical Agriculture?
Other agricultural practices can impact the climate. Synthetic pesticides and fertilizers are widely used in agriculture, and are often made from fossil fuels. Manufacturing and transporting these chemicals uses significant quantities of energy and produces greenhouse gases. Not surprisingly, studies have shown that chemical farming uses considerably more energy per unit of production than organic farms, which do not use these chemical inputs. In addition, the use of synthetic nitrogen fertilizers in soils produces nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas that is approximately 300 times more powerful than carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere.
Organic farms, on the other hand — which rely on natural manure and compost for fertilizer — store much more carbon in the soil, keeping it out of the atmosphere.
Food that's closer to home
Where your food comes from is also a factor. Food that is grown closer to home will therefore have fewer transportation emissions associated with it. Our food will be fresher and we will be supporting local farmers. As the distance food travels decreases, so does the need for processing and refrigeration to reduce spoilage.
Local or organic: which is better for the climate?
While it's good to buy locally grown food for many reasons, 'food miles' (the distance food is transported from the time of its production until it reaches the consumer) actually make up a relatively small percentage of the overall carbon footprint of food — approximately 11% on average. According to studies, how the food is grown makes up a much larger percentage — roughly 83%.
For example, one study showed that lamb raised in New Zealand and shipped 18,000 kilometres to the UK still produced less than one quarter of the greenhouse gases than local British lamb. Why? Because local flocks were fed grains, which take a lot of energy to grow, while the New Zealand flocks were grazed on grass. Shipping the lamb to the UK was responsible for only 5% of the overall greenhouse gases, whereas 80% of the emissions were from farm activities. Similar lifecycle assessments have found the same results for other foods. One assessment done for packaged orange juice found that; over one third of the lifecycle emissions came from the synthetic fertilizer used on the orange groves alone.
Choosing to buy food that is organically grown can therefore be a better choice for the climate. But if possible, buy food that that is organic and local.
http://www.davidsuzuki.org/what-you-can-do/food-and-our-planet/food-and-climate-change/
There are several factors that contribute to food's climate impact, including: how low on the food chain it is, how much energy is used to produce it (and whether the food is grown organically or with chemical inputs), and how far it has to travel before it gets to the table.
Meat and climate change
Meat production is a major contributor to climate change. It is estimated that livestock production accounts for 70 per cent of all agricultural land use and occupies 30 per cent of the land surface of the planet. Because of their sheer numbers, livestock produce a considerable volume of greenhouse gases (such as methane and nitrous oxide) that contribute to climate change. In fact, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has estimated that livestock production is responsible for 18% of greenhouse gases.
The growing of livestock and other animals for food is also an extremely inefficient process. For example, it takes approximately five to seven kilograms of grain to produce one kilogram of beef. Each of those kilograms of grain takes considerable energy and water to produce, process, and transport. As meat consumption has grown around the world, so has its climate impact.
Chemical Agriculture?
Other agricultural practices can impact the climate. Synthetic pesticides and fertilizers are widely used in agriculture, and are often made from fossil fuels. Manufacturing and transporting these chemicals uses significant quantities of energy and produces greenhouse gases. Not surprisingly, studies have shown that chemical farming uses considerably more energy per unit of production than organic farms, which do not use these chemical inputs. In addition, the use of synthetic nitrogen fertilizers in soils produces nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas that is approximately 300 times more powerful than carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere.
Organic farms, on the other hand — which rely on natural manure and compost for fertilizer — store much more carbon in the soil, keeping it out of the atmosphere.
Food that's closer to home
Where your food comes from is also a factor. Food that is grown closer to home will therefore have fewer transportation emissions associated with it. Our food will be fresher and we will be supporting local farmers. As the distance food travels decreases, so does the need for processing and refrigeration to reduce spoilage.
Local or organic: which is better for the climate?
While it's good to buy locally grown food for many reasons, 'food miles' (the distance food is transported from the time of its production until it reaches the consumer) actually make up a relatively small percentage of the overall carbon footprint of food — approximately 11% on average. According to studies, how the food is grown makes up a much larger percentage — roughly 83%.
For example, one study showed that lamb raised in New Zealand and shipped 18,000 kilometres to the UK still produced less than one quarter of the greenhouse gases than local British lamb. Why? Because local flocks were fed grains, which take a lot of energy to grow, while the New Zealand flocks were grazed on grass. Shipping the lamb to the UK was responsible for only 5% of the overall greenhouse gases, whereas 80% of the emissions were from farm activities. Similar lifecycle assessments have found the same results for other foods. One assessment done for packaged orange juice found that; over one third of the lifecycle emissions came from the synthetic fertilizer used on the orange groves alone.
Choosing to buy food that is organically grown can therefore be a better choice for the climate. But if possible, buy food that that is organic and local.
http://www.davidsuzuki.org/what-you-can-do/food-and-our-planet/food-and-climate-change/
