186 Times Better
Here is a link to a brilliant post that serves as an excellent link between the paper/plastic/cloth bag debate , issues of energy conservation, and the sustainable food discussion.
Key highlights of the article:
--From an energy standpoint, using a canvas bag is 39 times better than paper and 14 times better than plastic, assuming the canvas bag is used 500 times during its lifetime.
--But more important than the choice of grocery bag is what you decide to put in it. A family of four choosing a veggie-based diet over a meat-based diet for one day will save 186 times the energy conserved by choosing to use a canvas bag over plastic one.
Comments
This analysis unfortunately perpetuates the idea that meat is inherently more energy intensive and therefore less sustainable than a vegetarian diet. This just ain't so, for many reasons I can't type enough to detail. There is nothing sustainable about most of the soy farming in this country, and meat can be a very important part of sustainability. It can be an efficient way to create high value food on land that should not be used for crops. It depends on how its done. The Omnivore's Dilemma gives a stunning example of this in Polyface farms. Wendell Berry is also very good on this subject.
Posted by: Priscilla Gilman | October 12, 2007 11:41 AM
I am almost through reading The Omnivore's Dilemma, and yes, I agree that a meal of a Polyface Farm chicken, ham, or steak (when eaten in Virginia) is vastly more sustainably superior to chowing down on such "vegetarian" delicacies as Kellog's Cornflakes or McDonald's french fries.
As Michael Pollan's book illustrates, this is far from being a simple discussion.
The Swedish study cited in the blog has its limits, as it focused on 150 conventional food items commonly found in Swedish markets, looking at the origin of the food, degree of processing, choice of processing, preparation technology, and transportation distance. Beyond this, no comparison was made between organic vs. conventionally grown, or grass-fed vs. corn-fed animals, etc.
So even though we may be looking at the lesser of two evils, I still think the world is a tiny bit better off each time a person chooses to eat a bowl of conventionally grown beans, rice, or corn than if they were to dig into a platter of meatloaf derived from your average CAFO steer.
Posted by: Jeremy MIller | October 12, 2007 01:07 PM