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  "If we all grew our own vegetables

  I reckon we would not have our

  major environmental problems as

  we would all have our hands in the

  soil and be connected to the

  seasons and the natural rhythms

  of life.”

                                  - Peter Cundell

                         Gardening Australia

Change Your Diet

In the US, we consume 20 to 30 times more fossil fuel energy per capita than people in developing nations.  Agriculture directly accounts for 17% of all the energy used in this country - or the equivalent of 400 gallons of oil consumed , on average, by every man, woman and child per year.  As a result of the industrialization of agriculture, most food is now produced at large-scale, centrally-located facilities which use energy-intensive farming practices.  Large amounts of fossil fuel are required to:

• Power heavy farming machinery.

• Process foods.

• Transport foods an average of 1,500 miles from farm to the supermarket.

• Refrigerate foods during transportation.

• Produce packaging materials

• Manufacture and transport chemical inputs such as fertilizers and pesticides.

Fertilizers containing nitrogen are particularly fossil-fuel-intensive; production and transport of 1 lb of nitrogen releases an average of 3.7 lbs of CO2 into the atmosphere.  But small-scale, less mechanized, more biodiverse organic farming operations use 60% less fossil fuel per unit of food than conventional industrial farms (see Sustainable Table:  Fossil Fuel and Energy Use). You can meaningfully reduce CO2 emissions by choosing to buy your food from local farms.  This drastically reduces the distance that food is shipped and conserves fuel, which reduces pollution and protects human health. 

Meat production also is an energy-intensive process.  Large quantities of fossil fuel are needed to cultivate, harvest and ship animal feed; to transport animals to slaughter-houses; to slaughter animals and process and package meat; to refrigerate meat and finally, to transport meat to stores. 

What You Can Do TODAY

Eat Less Meat  - You can help reduce the use of fossil fuels and resulting CO2 emissions by eating less meat.  Cattle emit methane, another greenhouse gas.   In fact - the second most effective environmental choice you can make is to eat less meat.  Globally, ruminant livestock produce about 80 million metric tons of methane annually.  This accounts for 20% of global methane emissions from human-related activities and 18% of our world's global warming emissions. 

Buy Locally Produced Foods - You can buy foods from your local farmer at a farm stand, at a farmers market, through a food co-op or a Community-Supported Agriculture system.  Community Supported Agriculture (CSAs), and even some supermarkets offer opportunities to buy local vegetables, fruit, cheese and eggs. Here are a few CSA's located in the Chicago area:

• Angelic Organics:  Works  without the intermediary of stores (Caledonia).

• Growing Home: Provides job training to Chicago's homeless and low-income families (Chicago).

• Sweet Earth Organic Farm:  A CSA and organic (Chicago metro areas).

• Sandhilll Organics at Prairie Crossing:  A certified organic farm and CSA (Grayslake).

Or, go to Local Harvest, enter your zip code, and discover farmers' markets, family farms, and other sources of sustainably grown food in your area!

Buy Organic - Organic farms do not use synthetic pesticides and fertilizers, antibiotics, growth hormones, or genetically engineered seed or feed.  Better for you - and better for our planet!

Make Informed Seafood Choices  -  Today, we enjoy a wide variety of seafood options.  Bud did you know that much of it has been harvested in ways that severely damage ocean ecosystems and threaten species with extinction?  Learn about environmentally-appropriate seafood eating from Chicago's Shedd Aquarium and begin to make knowledgeable, effective choices the next time you dine out or buy fish from your local market!

Plant a Garden. . . Even a Small One - No room to grow vegetables, you say?  If you've got a balcony, you can grow food in pots.  If you've got a yard, you can do so much more AND perhaps even feed your neighbors at the same time!  Two creative Baltimore residents have brought their garden form the backyard to do just that.  They are providing produce for their neighbors from their "Edible Estate". Click here or on the adjacent image to read all about them in the June 2008 edition of Time Magazine.

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Eco-Justice Collaborative

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