Food & Energy

I am going to pick up where I left off in the last post and throw some more food for thought from Michael Pollan's book. I have always maintained that Conserving Energy requires a more holistic approach as it is more than just the mpg of your vehicle. However, I never imagined the strong link between food industry and energy. Here are two ways by which you can conserve fossil fuels and do your bit to prevent Global Warming.

Try Vegetarianism

Every step in food chain involves inefficiency and the higher you eat on the food chain more inefficient is the process. For example, in today's industrialized world it takes a cow about 7-8 pounds of corn fat to produce 1 pound of fat. The meat industry's energy efficiency is further degraded by elaborate but essential processes like packing, freezing and transportation. Here is a detailed analysis of food energy by my friend - Transmogrifier. So am I suggesting everyone to become vegetarian? No. We probably don't have enough arable land to sustain a world full of Vegetarians. Besides, I am sure many cannot even think of a vegetarian gastronomic feast comparable to a medium rare centre cut filet mignon or southern style barbecued pork ribs.

However, would it be too much to ask to give up 1 meat meal a week? I have decided that from now on (call it my 2009 resolution), atleast once a week whenever I go out to eat, I'll choose a vegetarian option over meat. Its not a drastic change to my lifestyle, but even if everyone were to implement such a small change it would save thousands of barrels of oil annually and reduce greenhouse gas emissions significantly. For those of you who think this small change is unacceptable, I would say its OK, but can you atleast make an effort to minimize the amount of meat you waste. Remember every ounce of meat wasted is like wasting 8 ounces of equivalent grain or cereal!

Eat Seasonal

When I was a kid, I remember my family would gather in the living room after dinner and my father would cut a certain fruit and serve each of us. In the summer, he would give us mangoes, in autumn grapes, in winter apples. Life was simple, you ate whatever was available in that season. I never craved for mangoes in winter nor did I crave for apples in summer. I contrast this to my present day situation where irrespective of which season I walk into the supermarket I can still get my favorite fruit. In some ways its a triumph of globalization that even in winter you can find asparagus (grown in Argentina where its summer) or Pineapples from Hawaii available in the supermarket. But as you would imagine, all these unseasonal non-local items leave behind a huge trail of fossil fuel consumption. Using the same argument as in the previous section, If we can all educate ourselves a little and try to reduce consumption of non-seasonal items by only 10% it can have a great impact on our carbon footprint.

If we can live with and accept snow in winter, fall colors in fall, and rain in monsoon would it kill us to shun asparagus on one winter meal or red meat on one hot summer day. I believe that more often than not people waste energy out of ignorance and not out of necessity. A little energy education will allow us all to continue with our lifestyles without making drastic compromises in the future.

I don't want to sound preachy, but if you liked this rant please forward it to your friends. In return, the Lord shall bestow you with some carbon credits :)