Dec
14
Written by:
Jayanthi
Friday, December 14, 2007
That chair that you bought was made in China. Or was it? Maybe the trees were cut down in U.S., and the logs shipped to China to be chemically processed, turned into boards, and built by people who make barely enough money to live on then be shipped back to U.S. to be transported all about the country to different stores for sale. Finally, you drive to your car, pick up the chair, and drive home with it. Let’s see – what is the carbon footprint in that chair? Gas or some type of oil product has been used to cut down the tree with that chainsaw, transport to the dock, ship to China, transport to the shop, process and treat (chemically), transport back to the ship, ship back to U.S., transport to the shop, and finally the gas you used to pick up the chair and take it home! Wow!
Are people talking about the carbon footprints on consumer goods? If they are, the volume is louder when the talk is about the carbon footprint of the food we eat. The term locavore is so trendy that it may be the hottest new word added to the dictionary next year. So, do you choose local or imported, organic or conventionally farmed produce? Do you choose that for your health or the health of the planet? Choosing local organic over imported inorganic may be simple, but would you choose local inorganic over imported organic to save on ‘air miles’ or ‘food miles’?
I have been following a blog of a UK family living as expats in Kenya. They posted an entry on why banning Kenyan produce [in the U.K.] to limit ‘air miles’ hurts Kenyans. I was intrigued. I never thought about that before. After all it is us rich countries who are rich because food comes so easy to us. Some of the food imported to US comes to us at their expense – the importers hand over more to us to get the dollars (or pounds) and may not have enough food to feed their own families, though they have plenty of foreign currency to show for it.
On top of that, I learned in another article that as more U.K. residents have jumped on the organic bandwagon, Kenyan farmers have kept up with this trend by switching to organic farming methods. They have abandoned the chemicals and modern methods for the organic farming methods, raking in more money as organics cost more.
Ok, so as the food and flowers (roses are a big export) travel by plane from Kenya to U.K. Plenty of food miles are being racked up. So now U.K. residents want to ban it? Maybe. The debate is ongoing. But step back and think about a few things- the farmers in Kenya who are growing organically leave a minimal impact on their environment. Much less than a typical westerner does, even in the same span of one day. Westerners drive, not walk, westerners all have electricity to make life easier. Kenyans do have cars, gas and electricity, some do not, and if they do, they use it more judiciously than us wasting westerners (so to speak). Off the bat, their carbon footprint is much less. And, if Kenya doesn’t import beans or any other produce or flowers to U.K., where will it come from and how would life change? After all growing seasons in U.K. are limited. Well, another article I read shared that if roses were no longer imported to U.K. from Kenya, greenhouses in Holland or a Scandinavian country would grow them and send them, apparently by boat, over to U.K. Running a greenhouse with all that electricity can not be cheap- or as good for the environment as growing them in the heat of mother nature’s sun. Comparing the carbon footprint of these two methods, I wonder if the Kenyans may win out on this, though their roses have all those precious ‘air miles.’ (Video below on this.)
Though this story is focused on U.K. and Kenya, we have this same 
quandary in the U.S. The other day I went to a local grocery and bought organic raspberries. When I got home, I read the label. They were from Argentina. And, in my last locavore post, I had purchased kovakkai and other Indian (from India) produce. Some may be actually from India, but I do know many of those exotics must be grown in hot climates. Some places in U.S. could support those growing conditions, but maybe not. And, the thought if they are organic, I highly doubt. In fact, it is the more powerful countries that are telling the others how to grow their food on a moment’s whim or following the latest fad or not trade with U.S. This pressure even is faced by Australians who recently accepted genetically modified crops to encourage trade.
Sometimes it’s good to be aware and sometimes it can cause more challenges. How do I choose between organic, inorganic, local or imported when so many factors influence not only my health but the health of the environment and our global neighbors? It’s definitely good that the world is waking up to environmental issues and wanting to make a change, but things should not be done hastily at the cost of ruining others livelihoods. In fact, rather than focus on ‘food miles’ – being that food is something that everyone needs to survive- why can’t we focus on the miles that are being used to make our consumer goods?
Sources: Organic farmers face ruin as rich nations agonize over food miles | Africa Expat Wives Club- Africa – ‘Recycling Kings’ | Africa Caught in the Tough ‘Food Miles’ War With UK | Locavore is New Oxford American Dictionary Word of the Year | Australian State Lifts Ban on GM crop | What is a Locavore? | Follow Up Fridays- What is a Locavore?
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Copyright ©2007 Jennifer Jayanthi Kumar
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