Food
Food provides the necessary energy we need to fuel our bodies each day.
Unfortunately, the processing and transport of food to our supermarkets can use up a lot of energy as well. We can change the way we purchase
food so that we can eat well and lessen energy demands on the environment at the same time. Eating locally, buying organic, and choosing low-energy
foods are ways we can fulfill our daily needs and keep our energy use at a more sustainable level.
Did You Know?
- Every 1kg of imported food produced for waterloo region also produces 1.3kg of Green House Gases, while it takes .008kg of Green House Gases to produce 1kg of local food, according to Marc Xuereb, Regional Public Health Planner.
- On average food travels 4500km to reach Waterloo stores, but it has been shown that you can live comfortably eating food grown with 160km.
- Local food makes takes less transportation to get from the grower to the retailer and usually uses less packaging - these help to reduce energy use.
The challenge to eat organically entails reducing our dependency on food grown without the use of pesticides and animals raised using growth hormones. To avoid the dependence on pesticide use we must purchase more organic foods through local food markets and health food stores as well as many other sources. We can also reduce our consumption of meats provided with hormones by talking to the butcher about how the animals were raised.
Eating less imported food will reduce our use of the fossil fuels needed to transport food from the grower to the retailer. Supporting more sustainable locally grown or raised food will help to decrease the need for imported food products. Purchasing more sustainably produced local food will benefit local growers and invest in the future of Waterloo Regional food security.