Substitute or eliminate one air freighted food item
Why This is Green
The debate about the environmental impact of food flown from far away vs. locally grown rages on. It’s especially murky when it comes to items produced locally in winter in greenhouses or with extensive cold storage. Until a standardized way of measuring total impact exists, if it ever does, it’s a challenging comparison.
People interested in reducing food miles can look for COOL (country of origin) labels on their food. If something came from too far away, swap in a more local item. In the middle of the winter, blueberries may be air freighted from Chile, while regional apples or pears stored from the fall harvest or kiwis trucked from California likely have a lower transportation impact, depending on where you live—and they’re equally tasty.
Being aware of the environmental impact of your food choices as you shop will help you select differently and lower the impact of what you eat.
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How To
Taking food miles into account as you grocery shop isn’t always easy. Treat it like a game. Read packages and labels as you go. It’s an eye opener to see how much of our food is produced very far away.
Try to substitute the farthest-flung items for more local ones. If this is simple and everything tastes good, add more local items the next time you shop.
Eating completely locally may not be feasible year round in some climates. Still, avoiding items that have been flown from far away—domestically or internationally—is a reasonable to step to take.
