Christmas: Made in China

Christmas is a consumer bonanza, but where do all these products that flood December come from? The answer is China. From fake Christmas trees and ornaments to iPhones and XBoxes, China has become, for all intents and purposes, our North Pole.

This video from GOOD helps put the statistics in perspective and might inspire you to purchase your gifts locally – at least for next year!

Japanese Government Urges Citizens to Eat Locally

Did you know that Japan only produces 40% of the food it consumes? That is the lowest percentage among developed nations and puts the island nation at considerable risk amid a global food shortage. That’s why Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries is getting serious about encouraging citizens to buy and grow their food locally. And as far as government messaging goes, this video is pretty darn cool:

When Kenyan Greenbeans Are Better: Why Local Food Isn’t Always The Best Choice

For Mike Small’s family in Fife, Scotland, it’s all about the local ingredients. For the past six months, the Smalls have been dining only on foods and beverages that come from within their home district. That means that on any given evening, the Smalls sit down to a combination of meats like fish, pork and lamb and local veggies such as parsnips, beetroots, kale, potatoes, leeks and other root vegetables. As long as it’s local, the Smalls are down with it.

While it sounds like the Smalls are making big leaps towards reducing their own carbon fooprints, turns out it just ain’t that easy. There are so many factors involved in the production and distribution of produce that it does not suffice to simply “eat what’s local” and assume that the impact that you are making is significant. Here are some reasons why:

• Food grown in areas where fertilizers and tractors are used is hardly carbon-friendly
• Many developing countries that export produce don’t use machinery and use cow crap for fertilizer, which means that even after air-freighting occurs, the carbon impact is less than it may be on a local, diesel-driven farm
• Purchasing local ingredients that are naturally dried instead of cooked and ready (chickpeas, for example) doesn’t mean you’re saving energy – you’ve still got to take them home and cook them, something that emits more carbon when done in small batches than when done in large ones
• Storing locally grown products that are not available year-round requires refrigeration, which emits carbon. Importing seasonal produce from where it is grown, even when done so via air-freight, is often more environmentally friendly than storage.

“The concept of food miles is unhelpful and stupid. It doesn’t inform about anything except the distance travelled.” — Dr Adrian Williams, of the National Resources Management Centre at Cranfield University.

Link [The Guardian]