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Originally Posted by blankall
I'm not sure how you can make this conclusion. How is importing food from Chile less carbon intensive than locally raising cattle fed on locally grown grasses and grains. Do you have any idea how many pounds of berries it takes to equal the calories, that humans can actually consume, from 1 lbs of ground beef?
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I never intended to compare local beef to foreign berries. I meant to compare local berries to foreign berries. Sorry if that wasn't clear.
Quote:
Originally Posted by blankall
In these examples, specific farming practices and inputs are likely to be far more significant than the products themselves, when looking at carbon output.
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Exactly, and rudimentary hand farming in a geography optimized for a certain food has very few inputs. Irrigation, pesticide use, fertilizers, and fuel are consumed at near zero levels.
Quote:
Originally Posted by blankall
Imported fruits and vegetables should be avoided at all costs. Transport carbon inputs are massive. The shipping industry is responsible for 3.1% of carbon output, and it's a relatively dirty type of that output:
https://www.transportenvironment.org...climate-change |
3% of carbon from shipping is nothing compared to 25% of all carbon that goes into food production. We should optimize for the most efficient locations to produce food. Container shipping is extremely efficient by weight. Getting food from the warehouse to your local store and then back to your house in your car can be more carbon intensive than an intercontinental container trip for a food item.
Here's an analysis on how New Zealand lamb may be less carbon intensive for people in the UK to eat than UK produced lamb:
https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/w...onment-2240702
I've seen a really good one on how apples from South Africa are less carbon intensive than UK apples when off-season because of the lower crop efficiency as well as the energy used for cold storage.
Here's one for foreign tomatoes being more efficient:
https://www.researchgate.net/figure/...tbl1_329187640