Reference no: EM133213792

Question: What feedback of why we assume most of the food in the grocery store are grown in the United States, and do not think to find the origin of what we are eating. Unless you are adamant on eating primarily locally grown foods, chances are you are buying from a company that mass produces their goods. After exploring the link provided in our prompt, I was surprised to see where my favorite fruits and veggies are from. I hadn't a clue that watermelon and okra originate in West Africa. While both are environmentally friendly foods, it was especially interesting how Watermelon have such a gentle impact. When in the ocean, or any body of water, watermelon dissolves rather quickly and does not upset the natural biome of the ecosystem. Other fruits that have a smaller carbon footprint are Mediterranean native such as figs, grapes, and olives. Although Olives may not be harmful to our environment, the oil from the olives that are mass produced for people around the world does not have the same effect.

Olive oil has a detrimentally high water and carbon footprint, and can cause extreme erosion in the land that it is farmed. The oil is typically transported in tanks, and rarely stored in barrels because of its liquid state. There is little known about the impact of the transport technology for olive oil. Coffee is also a significant contributor to negative impact on the state of our biodiversity. We use 1,056 gallons of water to brew a gallon of coffee, which is not sustainable. If you find yourself drinking a 100 mL cup of coffee, that used at least 1.94 mega joules of energy. From the production of coffee alone, annually we predict 155 kg of green house gases to be produced. Johnny Wood proceeds to explain that coffee has one of the highest footprints, coming in around 11 pounds of carbon. More notorious polluters are red meats like wagyu, that create sixty kilos of gas and nine hundred gallons of water each kilogram of meat. All together, red meat, poultry, and nuts are the most water intensive food products.