The Issues Around Food
Food Miles - a study found that the total
distance for all transportation for a typical food
basket in Melbourne - 29 common food items,
was 70,803 km - twice around the earth
[rice 9700, sugar 2300, chips 2000, tea 8300 ]
this is expected for Imported Foods, but mass
produced Australian Products can also gain
travel miles between picking, and packing. See 3-4 in
online resource for more food miles information.
Pesticide Residues - are an issue
[apples 15%, lettuce 4%, bread 2%] because weeds
and pest insects love acres of monoculture, high
volume farmed food. The industrialisation of rural
regions also sparks social issues like worker
exploitation, and animal cruel factory farming.
See 3-5 in online resource.
Local & Home Grown - knowing where your
food comes from, meeting the growers and
makers, knowing what is in your food, and
seeing your money recycle through the
community. But what do the claims mean? -
organic, chemical free, biodynamic, and
permaculture? See 3-6 in online resource.
Food Handling and Care
Raw & Fresh - general hygiene and storage is key.
Wash all food preparation areas, wash and scrub
home harvested produce before bringing inside, and
wash and rinse produce just before eating or making
into the meal. See 3-9 in online resource.
Let’s Be The Change
Activating
Sustainable Living
in Moonee Valley
Food & Garden
Half Processed - longer life preserved foods - dried fruit,
vegetables, and meats; dehydrated products like
spaghetti; bottled and canned foods are convenient and
help us extend seasonal foods, but check the ingredients
list on commercial items. See 3-10 in online resource.
Ready to Eat - basically engineered food. While
convenient and tasty, the ingredient list highlights the
salts, sugars, colourings, and flavour agents, needed to
give these an appealing appearance, a long shelf life,
and to use up cheaper base ingredients. Resource 3-11.
Packaging
- some packaging may be necessary for
processed and bulk foods, and managing some plastic
waste is less climate damaging than the current 20% of
food wasted in shipping, storage, and supermarket
display. Resource 3-7 and 3-8
Do It Yourself Options - start with local, low food miles,
shops and farmers markets; take your own produce and
carry bags; reuse your own containers for tricky items-
honey, peanut butter, cleaning liquids; and use beeswax
or silicone wraps and cloth fridge bags to store foods.
Compostable - the most basic is fruit and vegetable
peelings and cuttings saved for your compost bin. But
by using a Bokashi type fermentation system, prepared
foods, meat, dairy, egg, coffee & tissues can also be
turned into compost. Resource 3-12
Everything Eaten - thoughtful planning means
no wasted food, just enough for the one meal, or a
cascade of left-overs into other meals. Resource 3-13
Water Waste - hygiene and meal preparation
comes first, but develop a plan for the separation and
collection of this water, and use it to grow more food.
Time is Money & Energy - cooking multiple
meals at the same time - so investigate pressure
cooking, pans matched to tasks, microwave, solar &
turbo ovens. Resource 3-14
Food Challenges
For one meal – Just for you (or organise a multi household
street event ) - try to source everything from just your local
region - maybe only things from your farmers market.
Over one month – Letter-box survey your neighbours
asking who composts, and who has chooks, worm farms,
and Bokashi bins, then suggest starting a food waste share
program - swap food scraps for fresh eggs, or worm
castings and juice, or just help some one with no garden
manage their scraps.
One weekend - look up the OpenFood Network or online
search your town and plan a family walk, bike, or car trip,
to visit a community garden, food co-op, organic farm, or
just to find a new whole- foods grocer.
During the year - look up Permablitz online. Explore going
on a blitz to help out and learn garden skills, and then
consider using a blitz to build or revamp your own garden
Forever – Make one day a meatless day, and then see if
you can add more days.
Kids Fun - start a carrot top garden, or plant seeds in soil or
potting mix in an egg carton. Give them their own space in
your garden. Ask older kids to write out, and illustrate,
vegetarian or local food recipes, and make a street recipe
book.
FOOD & GARDEN
Activating Sustainable Living
in Moonee Valley
Estimate Your Food Source Percentages
Using the Season Food Guide from Transition Australia, -
Resource 3-3 - estimate the percentages for each aspect of
your food consumption - the Raw/Fresh, Local/Home, and
Australian Produce percentages will show how [ sun light
powered, In Season ] compared to [ fossil fuel assisted, Out
of Season / Hot House Grown ] your food currently is.
Keep a Food Diary for A Week
Make note of:
• the source of each part - is the food imported, product
of Australia, or sourced local item / home grown?
• the type of packaging - is the packaging all waste (red
bin), recyclable (yellow bin), or your bags & handling?
• the degree of pre-processing - is the food raw-fresh, half
process (dried, frozen), processed/ready to eat?
• the waste part - are the scraps fully compostable,
everything eaten? Does it require cooking/washing
water waste?
• the cooking energy required - 30 minutes, 1 hour, more
than 1 hour?
Global food production increased 250% from 1960 to
2019 as we industrialised agriculture. Climate change
impacts, and population growth, predict a further 70%
increase will be needed by 2050 if we continue on the
same path. The ecologic cost of having the current huge
variety of out-of-season, imported, and convenience
packaged foods is huge - 30% of our ecologic footprint.
Important Information About Food Production
• processing, packing, transport, storage and waste
disposal consumes fossil fuel & energy.
• large scale single product farming - monoculture -
has depleted soil & caused erosion.
• modified “high yield” crops need chemical fertilisers
and pesticides (most made from oil).
• Industrialisation needs money and so concentrates
ownership and control.
• convenience packaging needs salt & fructose for shelf
life, and colouring for marketing.
• high turnover, large scale farming needs locked in,
large volumes, of water.
So Where Do You Stand on Food?
Let’s start wth a food audit of your meals and food
sourcing. Download a general pantry and fridge audit -
link above - Resource 3-2
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