By CATHY DUECK

Special to The Examiner {Peterborough Examiner, February 9, 2005}

Peterborough Green-Up Column, call (705) 745-3238 http://www.greenup.on.ca/

Just before Christmas, Green Up’s Donald Fraser cornered me (on CHEX Television, of all places) to tell the whole world my pledge for a New Year’s resolution.

Musing aloud, I pondered the idea of trying to make locally- produced food a bigger part of my diet in the coming year. Even as the words escaped my lips, I was thinking that I’d need more information before I could deliver on my promise.

So, I’ve been doing some homework, and found some eye-opening information to share.

Did you know that each ingredient in a North American dinner travels an average of 2,400 kilometres to reach the din­ner plate? And that our average meal contains ingredients from at least five countries outside of our own? That’s a lot of transportation.

All of these foods whizzing around the planet gobble up enormous amounts of energy. This adds to our increasingly pol­luted air and pumps countless tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. The increase of carbon dioxide in our air is the biggest culprit in the creation of global climate change; a troubling phe­nomenon of droughts, floods and wildly fluctuating temperatures.

Wise Moves, an insightful report from the U.K. released in 2003, confirms that “we have developed a global food industry that is hastening the onslaught of climate change. Climate change is not just a power station or car but the food on our plate, too.”

As we hear Rick Mercer urging us to “Take the challenge and lose a tonne” of carbon dioxide emissions, one manageable and satisfying approach is to think about fresh, local food. The increasing distance that our food travels from where it is grown is referred to as “food miles,” a concrete measure of environmental impact.

The import and export of food internationally have tripled in the last 20 years. Food is now the largest component of air freight, and air transport is the most polluting and least efficient form of transportation.

Surely, the very best way to reduce your food miles is to grow some of your own food in your yard. Many people do. However, this is not always possible, especially with our hectic lifestyles, which take us away from home for most of our waking hours.

A good second choice is to look for food produced locally. Buying from our farm­ers’ markets is a great start (Saturdays all year at Morrow Park; Wednesdays on Charlotte at Water streets through the growing season).

Not all of the food at the market is locally produced though. Some is pur­chased from central food terminals, and can travel long distances to get there.

Talk to the vendors and ask them what they know about the food they’re selling.

It’s a great way to get to know some of our local growers. And a perfect opening for a learning opportunity.

Check out the signs in the produce section when you’re buying groceries.

They should tell you where the food comes from. Talk to your grocer to find out what products come from local growers, and let them know that it is something that you value.

It would be difficult, and really not nec­essary, to eat exclusively local foods but being aware of where your food comes from and making local products a big part of your diet is an enjoyable and rewarding challenge.

A food system based so heavily on abundant and cheap energy for transport is a vulnerable system, one which draws us too deeply into global politics for basic survival.

Supporting a thriving local food supply is a sensible, sustainable way of feeding ourselves and having some control over how our food is produced.

So this weekend, when I have friends over for dinner, we’ll have a lovely mid-winter meal, which will include glazed ­local carrots and homemade apple pie.

The fare will be doubly tantalizing, knowing that I’ll be supporting local farmers, while casting a vote for cleaner air and more sustainable economy.

­And, yes, I think I will have a second slice of Pie! Just for those local growers, of course.

Cathy Dueck is the co-ordinator of Ecology Park and the Kawartha Environmental Educators Network

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