February focus - food
According to a book on the subject, the energy used in feeding ourselves is not mainly expended in transporting the food over long distances. More importantly, energy is expended to process and package food. Also to produce meat.
Priorities for living a low-carbon life:
- eat organic - avoid the contribution of fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides
- this may also cause you to eat less, as organic food is healthier
- eat low on the food chain; Michael Pollan's advice to eat plants, mostly leaves, would agree with this approach if only on a nutritional basis
- remember that when you buy a can of corn, there may be 375 calories inside the can, but it took 1000 calories to produce the can. As we begin to live under the threats posed by Peak Oil, this will increasingly be a consideration
- buying corn bread already made, or products made with by-products of corn, increases the waste of energy. Just don't consume processed foods and your body will thank you as well!
- driving to the store accounts for a significant amount of carbon emissions. A first step would be to limit the number of trips. This is becoming more of an issue for me as I prepare to pick up "heritage" chickens in Brighton, and grass-finished butter and cheese in Windsor. A co-op, official or loosely organized would be a nice benefit here.
Myrto Ashe
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