Your Questions About Green Living

Robert asks…

is our food production system sustainable?

i have a case study to do and i cant find anything about an argument for our food production system being sustainable. HELP!

The Expert answers:

No, it is not sustainable because, like other economic sectors, agriculture depends very strongly on fossil fuels for energy whether directly or indirectly. Energy from unrenewable fossil fuels is required to power farm machinery and equipment, for transport, food processing, electricity, and making agrochemicals. In other words, almost the entire chain in food production requires energy from fossil fuels.

Increasing world population, increasing demand for biofuels, and changing to a more meat-based diets mean increased pressure for deforestation, pollution, soil erosion, biodiversity loss, and climate change.

Sustainable agriculture practices are now growing in importance and becoming increasingly more mainstream. However, we are still long way to achieving a truly sustainable system worldwide.

Chris asks…

Is Sushi a Sustainable Food?

I am throwing a party for my 13th Birthday and i want to make it as sustainable as possible ,I’m of food first on the list of sustainable things, is Sushi sustainable?

The Expert answers:

Yes. It can be very sustainable. The rice and seaweed(nori) alone are great to start with. Thankfully, there are corporations that are taking responsibility for this earth we are taking from.

Thomas asks…

What is the the best food to eat before a run?

I heard bananas were good are there other foods that are more sustainable?

The Expert answers:

Oatmeal porridge with skim milk, honey and banana slices.
Got complex carbs to ensure sustained release of energy, low in fat so wont stress the digestive system causing cramps, and has a good electrolytic balance.
Banana is the most commom pre run food of atheletes you can almost never go wrong with those.

Ruth asks…

What are some unsustainable food companies?

All of the food companies/brands that I research are going sustainable so I am having a hard time finding ones that aren’t yet.
Thank you Chase! You made some excellent points and I will look up YUM to see what I can find.

The Expert answers:

Don’t confuse large corporations buying up small organic labels and small sustainable companies as “going sustainable”. This is a process of greenwashing their business and a way for them to tap into another market, that is all.
Take for example, Toms of Maine products, used to be small independent company, now owned by Colgate-Palmolive.
There are many companies that are falling to this situation of being bought by larger corporations.
Do a bit of research into YUM! Brand foods and their history, they are not alone in their corporate actions, but it is a good place to start.

Additional:
Rick B. Sustainable practice isn’t about whether or not an animal becomes extinct. It is about whether or not resources are wasted in the production of food. An excellent example of this would be approximately 80% of the antibiotics sold in the US are fed to animals being raised for slaughter. Or another example would be the usage of food crops (corn as an example) being used to feed animals being raised for meat.
This is what is meant by sustainable practice. Unfortunately given the amount of money generated from unsustainable practice, the only real motivator for corporations to embrace sustainability is not because they have suddenly developed ethics (corporations don’t have a habit of that) but more because the public is increasingly demanding it. And corporations? They do what is needed to ensure their profit margins only grow, not shrink.

John asks…

Why do we grow a lot of our food in Califorina?

I mean it NEVER rains here so we take large amounts of water from other places to water the very hot and dry landscape.

Why do it when it’s not sustainable in a place where there is little amounts of water, it doesn’t rain, and it gets really hot???

Wouldn’t it be better to grow more food in America indoors in tall buildings????

The Expert answers:

A lot of the water in Southern California comes from a canal connected to the Colorado River.

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