[tn-bird] fossil fuel cost influences sugar solution debate for hummingbirds
- From: jreese5@xxxxxxx
- To: tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 30 Jul 2002 08:44:18 -0500
Linda K. of our group made the point that sugar is produced at great co=
st
to our environment, so that might be a reason for weaker solutions. I h=
ad
recently run across some amazing statistics concerning distances that f=
ood
travels, and so have included my article on that topic. This is perhaps=
not
stricly bird related, but has enormous impact in the big ecological
picture...
Food that has been to the moon and back doesn't taste as fresh
I read in a book of essays called "Small Wonder" by Barbara Kingsolver
that each grocery item purchased by U.S. consumers has traveled an aver=
age
of 1,300 miles. If you eat ten items a day, and multiply that by the nu=
mber
of days in a year, that means a loaded truck drove the equivalent of te=
n
trips to the moon and back to put food on your table for one year. I fi=
nd
these figures hard to swallow (pun intended) but even if it's only one
tenth of that number of miles, it is a call to action. I don't know abo=
ut
you, but I would rather my money went to local farmers than to big
corporations, especially the oil companies that seem to control the cou=
ntry
and yet don't seem to pay their fair share of taxes. Kingsolver suggest=
s
that if more of us were to start buying at least some percentage of our=
produce from local growers, and search for sources of locally raised me=
ats
and eggs, we would cut down on our nation's consumption of fossil fuels=
.
Then there is also that intangible benefit of looking the person in the=
eye
who put the seed in the ground, who fought the weeds off the crop, and =
who
picked the bounty to put in your hand. This is true of buying locally g=
rown
plants as well, if you choose to grow your own vegetables. Sometimes th=
ose
plants at big chain stores came from local growers, but usually not. I
prefer to buy my plants from the person who grew them, and will share w=
ith
me their reasons for carrying that particular variety.
Buying at the local farmer's market also means we can have the freshest=
produce, often picked only hours before we put it in our mouths. We'll =
also
have a wider choice of better tasting vegetables and fruit. Locally gro=
wn
varieties are usually chosen for their flavor and disease resistance,
rather than their ability to ship well.
If you elect to make local produce your mainstay, this will mean you go=
l
back to a traditional culinary pattern, centered on seasonal availabili=
ty.
In the old days, your only option was to eat what was in season. Aspara=
gus
was a spring-only treat. It would be late summer before okra and eggpl=
ant
were available.. Fresh corn was something on which you gorged, since th=
e
season was brief, or you planted several successive crops to have an
extended harvest. These days we can walk into the grocery and buy
blueberries from South America in mid-winter. I would be lying if I sai=
d I
will never take advantage of having these out-of-season treats that had=
to
travel so far to get to my kitchen, but still - I plan to buy less at t=
he
big chain stores and more from people with local dirt under their
fingernails. See you at the farmer's market.
Carol Reese
Ornamental Horticulture Specialist -Western District
University of Tennessee Extension Service
605 Airways Blvd.
Jackson TN 38301
901 425 4721 email jcreese@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx=
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