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Mom, I’m hungry!
Our food choices affect the environment. It doesn’t matter if those choices are made in a kitchen or in a school cafeteria.
Regular readers of the Nature Challenge newsletter know that the average meal travels 2400 km (1500 miles) to get from the field to your plate. And all this transportation leads to more greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution. Buying locally produced food helps reduce emissions and supports local farmers in your community.
One thing you can do is brainstorm brown bag lunches or picnics with the children in your life that don’t require excess packaging. For example, using reusable drink containers instead of single use cans or juice packages reduces waste. And fruits and vegetable don’t require disposable wax paper or clingwrap.
When purchasing food, you should also take pesticides into consideration. Some countries still use substances such as DDT on fruits and vegetables that are imported into Canada and wind up in your kitchen. One way to reduce the risks of chemical exposure is to purchase certified organic produce that were grown without pesticides. (You may also find that organic food tastes better.)
The David Suzuki Foundation recently released a report on pesticides in Canada. The results are shocking. At least 60 active ingredients, used in 1,130 pesticide products available in Canada, have been banned in other western industrialized nations.
Be warned, the report isn't easy to swallow. The full report, The Food We Eat: An International Comparison of Pesticide Regulations can be found online at: http://www.davidsuzuki.org/Publications/Food_we_eat.asp