Food And Environment

The connection between food and environment is extremely big. The environmental problems we have today are in big parts created by producing, transporting, preparing and disposing of food. 6 billion people have to eat every day, from that fact alone it is easy to understand that this is a huge topic.

Garbage
How much trash is produced from everything involving food I don´t know, but it is a lot! Plastic bags, plastic cups, paper, glass, aluminum, wood, food... well the list just goes on and on. Recycling has definitely helped to reduce the total trash production, but there is still much work to do. In some countries you have deposits either for recyclable or reusable containers. A worlwide agreement could be an idea. That would open doors to:
- Make all glass containers reusable and charge a deposit.
- Charge a deposit on all aluminum containers.
- Charge all shops and supermarkets for how many plastic bags they give out/sell.
- Introduce a packaging fee, food producers, restaurants and fast food chains get charged tax depending on how much and from what material their products are packed in.
These are just some ideas, they may seem quite drastic, but when you think about it, nothing of this is impossible to achieve. I am convinced that sooner or later we will have a world that works like that, so why not sooner? Food and environment could have a better realationship and that is in for everyone´s interest. Finally I´d like to conclude with a few words on personal responsibility. Your action counts! If you take your responsibilty it makes a huge difference together with everyone elses.

Food Production
The way food is produced has been a growing topic of discussion over the last decades. It pollutes, consumes energy, destroys biotopes and uses vast amounts of natural resources. Work is in progress to try to limit the impact on our planet. Treatys have been signed (not by everyone...) and work is in progress. Consumer can nowadays choose organic food products that has been produced in less harmful ways.

There is one aspect of this that is quite unsound. The fact that a country with strict environmental policies installed can import food that has been produced using environmentally bad methods. In connection with this is the fact that in many cases this food is produced not respecting any worker rights paying minimal salaries. This hipocrazy should of course be discontinued.

Food Transport
Another topic of great discussion has been how food transporting pollutes nature. It has been critized how food is produced in one country, packed in another and the further transported to another to be sold. That of course pollutes our nature, but the fact is that food transport by boat or train is nothing compared to cars going to the super market. Even compared to all the trucks that ship food by roads the sum of all individual car trips to supermarkets is so much bigger. Your personal responsibility should be to plan your trips better, once a week should be enough! Actually, most things in relation with food and environment is best seen through the perspective: The sum of all individual actions is both the problem and the solution.

What We Eat
This is a very important aspect. We can actively choose environmentally friendly alternatives. If you are in Sweden, buy ecologically produced apples from Sweden. Food from faraway have travelled longer. Meat is a lot more damaging for our planet than vegetables and fruit since it uses more energy, pollute more and forests are cut down to create grazeland. Tap water, if necessary filtered, is better than bottled water.

Of course there is the fact that some animal species are on the brink of extinction. Shark fin soup, certain turtle eggs, several species of fish, the list can be made long.

Food Preparation
In many parts of the world forests are cut down for firewood. No other viable solution exist that richer countries in the world have to work together and create energy alternatives. Electricity from wind, sun and water are the best options.


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