Local food's claimed benefits are driving health- and environment- conscious consumers to seek alternatives to the industrial agriculture system whose products dominate grocery- store shelves. It is also linked to the localization efforts of people who believe that rising transport costs and reaction to globalization will trigger a shortening of economic links and greater reliance on local and regional economies. This two- part series examines the potential impacts of greater localization of food, beginning with the environmental effects and then, in our July/August issue, the economic implications.)In 1. Swedish researcher calculated that the ingredients of a typical Swedish breakfast- apple, bread, butter, cheese, coffee, cream, orange juice, sugar- traveled a distance equal to the circumference of the Earth before reaching the Scandinavian table. In 2. 00. 5, a researcher in Iowa found that the milk, sugar, and strawberries that go into a carton of strawberry yogurt collectively journeyed 2,2. As the local- food movement has come of age, this concept of . And, since our food is transported all those miles in ships, trains, trucks, and planes, attention to food miles also links up with broader concerns about the emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases from fossil fuel- based transport. In the United States, the most frequently cited statistic is that food travels 1,5. That figure comes from work led by Rich Pirog, the associate director of the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State University (he is also behind the strawberry- yogurt calculations referenced above). In 2. 00. 1, in some of the country's first food- miles research, Pirog and a group of researchers analyzed the transport of 2. Iowa markets via local, regional, and conventional food distribution systems. The team calculated that produce in the conventional system- a national network using semitrailer trucks to haul food to large grocery stores- traveled an average of 1,5. By contrast, locally sourced food traveled an average of just 4. Iowa markets. In light of such contrasts, the admonition to . And indeed, at the most basic level, fewer transport miles do mean fewer emissions. Pirog's team found that the conventional food distribution system used 4 to 1. CO2 than the local and regional (the latter of which roughly meant Iowa- wide) systems. Similarly, a Canadian study estimated that replacing imported food with equivalent items locally grown in the Waterloo, Ontario, region would save transport- related emissions equivalent to nearly 5. CO2, or the equivalent of taking 1. What's ? How local is local? One problem with trying to determine whether local food is greener is that there's no universally accepted definition of local food. Mac. Kinnon, authors of The 1. Mile Diet, write that they chose this boundary for their experiment in eating locally because . And it rolls off the tongue more easily than the . She figured that if Nabhan could accomplish that in the desert, she could do even better in the year- round agricultural cornucopia that is Northern California, so she decided to limit herself to food from within 1. There's some evidence that a popular understanding of local food is, at least in some places, coalescing around this 1. A 2. 00. 8 Leopold Institute survey of consumers throughout the United States found that two- thirds considered local food to mean food grown within 1. An introduction to fruitarianism and the fruitarian diet, also known as 80/10/10. TheRecord.com is your Kitchener-Waterloo daily online newspaper. Medical Service Study Areas (MSSAs) are sub-city and sub-county geographical units used to organize and display population. It is very difficult to choose the top 100 invasive species that really are "worse" than any others. They have been recognized globally as a major threat. Gastric bypass surgery causes patients to lose 2/3 of their excess weight in 1 - 2 years by making them feel full sooner and eat less. Still, a variety of other definitions also persist. Sometimes local means food grown within a county, within a state or province, or even, in the case of some small European nations, within the country. In the United Kingdom, reports Tara Garnett of the Food Climate Research Network, . For some in the agricultural community, promoting and eating . But they don't have all that much to do with environmental costs and benefits. Tradeoffs In any case, warns Pirog, food miles/kilometers don't tell the whole story. But they're not a very good measure of the food's environmental impact. For example, trains are 1. So you could eat potatoes trucked in from 1. The environmental impact of food also depends on how it is grown. Swedish researcher Annika Carlsson- Kanyama led a study that found it was better, from a greenhouse- gas perspective, for Swedes to buy Spanish tomatoes than Swedish tomatoes, because the Spanish tomatoes were grown in open fields while the local ones were grown in fossil- fuel- heated greenhouses. That seems obvious, but there are subtler issues at play as well. For example, Spain has plenty of the warmth and sunshine that tomatoes crave, but its main horticultural region is relatively arid and is likely to become more drought- prone in the future as a result of global climate change. What if water shortages require Spanish growers to install energy- intensive irrigation systems? And what if greenhouses in northern Europe were heated with renewable energy? Perhaps it's inevitable that we consumers gravitate to a focus on food miles- the concept represents the last step before food arrives on our tables, the part of the agricultural supply chain that's most visible to us. And indeed, all other things being equal, it's better to purchase something grown locally than the same thing grown far away. The home page of Arnold Firby, St.Thomas Ontario, Canada. Get options for retirement residences in Ontario. Choose from this list of Ontario retirement residences for best facilitated retirement homes for your senior. And life- cycle analysis (LCA), a research method that provides precisely this . Scott Matthews, of Carnegie Mellon University, wove together data from a variety of U. S. According to their calculations, final delivery from producer or processor to the point of retail sale accounts for only 4 percent of the U. S. Final delivery accounts for only about a quarter of the total miles, and 4. That's because there are also . Overall, transport accounts for about 1. By contrast, Weber and Matthews found, agricultural production accounts for the bulk of the food system's greenhouse gas emissions: 8. A recent life- cycle analysis of the U. K. In her study, transport accounted for about a tenth of the food system's greenhouse gas emissions, and agricultural production accounted for half. Garnett says the same general patterns likely also hold for Europe as a whole. There's Something about Dairy The other clear result that emerges from these analyses is that what you eat matters at least as much as how far it travels, and agriculture's overwhelming . In part that's due to the inefficiency of eating higher up on the food chain- it takes more energy, and generates more emissions, to grow grain, feed it to cows, and produce meat or dairy products for human consumption, than to feed grain to humans directly. But a large portion of emissions associated with meat and dairy production take the form of methane and nitrous oxide, greenhouse gases that are respectively 2. Note: The program is 100% online. The image to the right is a representation of the materials you will access immediately online. No materials are mailed to you.Methane is produced by ruminant animals (cows, goats, sheep, and the like) as a byproduct of digestion, and is also released by the breakdown of all types of animal manure. Nitrous oxide also comes from the breakdown of manure (as well as the production and breakdown of fertilizers). In Garnett's study, meat and dairy accounted for half of the U. K. In fact, she writes, . In their study the second- largest contributor to emissions was the dairy industry. Nor are these two studies unique in their findings. A group of Swedish researchers has calculated that meat and dairy contribute 5. Swedish diet. At a global level, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization has estimated that livestock account for 1. By comparison, replacing red meat and dairy with chicken, fish, or eggs for one day per week would save the equivalent of driving 7. Replacing red meat and dairy with vegetables one day a week would be like driving 1,1. For example, local- food advocates also emphasize eating seasonal (often meaning field- grown) and less- processed foods. Those qualities, along with shorter distances from farm to table, will also contribute to lower emissions compared to the . Organic food often (though not always) is associated with lower greenhouse gas emissions than conventionally grown food, because organics don't generate the emissions associated with production, transport, and application of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides. Organic food also has other environmental benefits: less use of toxic chemicals promotes greater farmland biodiversity, and organic fields require less irrigation under some conditions. Because local food is so frequently talked about in terms of food miles, its environmental benefits have largely been couched in terms of greenhouse gas emissions. But food's carbon footprint . In short, Weber says, . If buying local also means buying with better production practices then that's great, that's going to make a huge difference. A small farmer can still spray pesticides and plow from road to road. Not all farmers- market vendors are organic. Clare Hinrichs, who calls herself an ? So, is local food greener? But look at the question from the opposite direction: if you're a consumer interested in greener food, the local food economy is currently a good place to find it. By the same token, a farmer who sells in the local food economy might be more likely to adopt or continue sustainable practices in order to meet this customer demand. If local food has environmental benefits, they aren't all- or perhaps even mainly- intrinsic to local- ness. Or, as Hinrichs has written, . Regarding food miles, Van Wing says, . Interacting directly with the farmer who grows her food creates a . Foods that can't be grown nearby are either rare treats or have disappeared from her diet altogether. Her statement echoes journalist and sustainable- agriculture guru Michael Pollan, who in his recent book In Defense of Food offers a common- sense guide to eating ethically and well: . In many areas, the climate is such that eating local, seasonal, field- grown produce would be a pretty bleak proposition for much of the year. Large concentrations of people live in areas not suited to growing certain staple crops; it's one thing to forego bananas, but quite another to give up wheat. HOME - Bloor Yorkville. Shopping. Whether shopping for the hottest trends, stylish classics, or designer fashions, Bloor- Yorkville is a shopper’s paradise! Recognized internationally as one of the top ten shopping destinations, Bloor- Yorkville is often compared to other acclaimed areas such as Fifth Avenue in New York, Rodeo Drive in Los Angeles, and Chicago’s Magnificent Mile. Lined with international labels such as Prada, Hermes, Louis Vuitton and Gucci, as well as Canadian retail icons Harry Rosen, Holt Renfrew, and William Ashley China, Bloor Street is Canada’s fashion mecca. Our five shopping centres . In between shopping, let our salons and spas pamper you with a relaxing treat! With over 1. 25 hair salons, spas, and estheticians, you can indulge in never ending soothing treatments. View Shopping Directory. Top 1. 00 Invasive Species. Invasive species have been recognized globally as a major threat to biodiversity as well as to agriculture and other human interests. It is very difficult to choose the top 1. Species and their interactions with ecosystems are very complex. Some species may have invaded only a restricted region, but have a huge probability of expanding, and causing further great damage (e. Other species may already be globally widespread, and causing cumulative but less visible damage. Many biological families or genera contain large numbers of invasive species, often with similar impacts; in these cases one representative species was chosen. The one hundred species aim to collectively illustrate the range of impacts caused by biological invasion. They are listed in alphabetical order. Acacia mearnsii (tree)Common Names: Australian Acacia, Australische akazie, black wattle This noxious, evergreen tree often reaches 2. Apart from producing copious numbers of seeds, it generates numerous suckers resulting in monotypic thickets. Achatina fulica (mollusc) Common Names: Afrikanische Riesenschnecke, giant African land snail, giant African snail. The giant African snail, Achatina fulica, has been widely introduced to Asia, to Pacific and Indian Oceans islands, and to the West Indies. It has also been intercepted widely by quarantine officials and incipient invasions have been eradicated, for instance in the mainland USA. It is a major agricultural and garden pest, and a general nuisance. It is also a vector (as are many snail species) of several human pathogens and parasites. Often its introduction leads to the subsequent introduction of predatory snails and, more recently, flatworms as putative biological control agents that can have devastating effects on native land snail diversity. Acridotheres tristis (bird) Common Names: common myna, Hirtenmaina, Indian myna, Indian mynah, mynah Mynas are native to India, but have been introduced all over the world, mainly for their being able to reduce the insect population in agricultural areas. However, they reduce biodiversity by competing for nesting hollows, destroying chicks and eggs and evicting small mammals. Aedes albopictus (insect) Common Names: Asian tiger mosquito, forest day mosquito, zanzare tigre The Asian tiger mosquito was introduced to the USA and other countries via used tyre imports. It is associated with the transmission of dengue fever, eastern equine encephalitis and dog heartworm, and possibly with St. Louis and La. Crosse encephalitis viruses. Anopheles quadrimaculatus (insect) Common Names: common malaria mosquito, Gabelm. It breeds chiefly in pemanent freshwater and feeds at night on humans and domestic animals. Anoplolepis gracilipes (insect) Common Names: ashinaga- ki- ari, crazy ant, Gelbe Spinnerameise, gramang ant, long- legged ant,Maldive ant, yellow crazy ant Anoplolepis gracilipes, the yellow crazy ant, has been introduced across the tropics as a byproduct of human commerce. It invades urban, agricultural and native ecosystems where it can have large, catastrophic impacts. These impacts include decimation of endemic species, rapid degradation of native communities, and altered ecosystem processes. Anoplophora glabripennis (insect) Common Names: Asian longhorned beetle, Asiatischer Laubholzk. Known infestations were discovered in New York (1. Chicago (1. 99. 8) about 1. U. S. An infestation was also discovered in Austria in 2. Austria. Aphanomyces astaci (macro- fungus) Common Names: crayfish plague, Wasserschimmel Aphanomyces astaci, is a freshwater fungus which is nutritionally dependent on crayfish. This fungal disease has eliminated many native stocks of crayfish in Europe and there is a real danger that it will cause the extinction of some of the five European indigenous crayfish species. Ardisia elliptica (tree) Common Names: ati popa’a, shoebutton ardisia This shade- tolerant, evergreen tree grows rapidly, forming dense monotypic stands that prevent establishment of all other species. Arundo donax (grass) Common Names: arundo grass, bamboo reed, cana, cane, canne de Provence, carrizo grande, Cow cane, donax cane, giant cane, giant reed, narkhat, ngasau ni vavalangi, Pfahlrohr, reedgrass, river cane, Spanisches Rohr, Spanish cane, Spanish reed Giant reed is a perennial grass which has been widely introduced into primarily riparian zones and wetlands in subtropical and temperate areas of the world. Once established, it forms dense, homogenous stands at the expense of native plant species, altering the habitat of the local wildlife. It is also both a fire and flood hazard. Asterias amurensis (starfish) Common Names: Nordpazifischer Seestern, Northern Pacific seastar A. They have spread to North America and Australia where they seriously affect the native shellfish population. Where seastar densities are high, most bivalves and other attached or sedentary invertebrates are eliminated. Banana bunchy top virus (BBTV) (micro- organism) Common Names: BTV, Bunchy top virus. Banana bunchy top virus is the pathogen which causes banana bunchy top disease of bananas. It is transmitted by the aphid vector, Pentalonia nigronervosa and is considered to be the most economically destructive of the virus diseases affecting bananas worldwide. Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (macro- fungus) Common Names: Chytrid- Pilz, chytridiomycosis, frog chytrid fungus Chytrid fungus in amphibians was first identified in 1. Australia, the United States and Great Britain and since has been linked to large amphibian die- offs in pristine areas of Panama and Australia. Bemisia tabaci (insect) Common Names: Mosca Blanca, sweet potato whitefly, Weisse Fliege The sweet potato whitefly is a major pest worldwide of crops grown for food and fibre. Damage is caused by the piercing and sucking of sap from the foliage of plants, the vectoring of plant viruses, and the production of honeydew which serves as substrate for the growth of sooty moulds on leaves. Boiga irregularis (reptile) Common Names: Braune Nachtbaumnatter, brown tree snake, brown treesnake, culepla Native to eastern Indonesia, the Solomon Islands, New Guinea, as well as the northern and eastern coasts of Australia, the brown snake is notorious for concealing itself in international freight and aircraft. It is nocturnal, secretive and arboreal, hunting for food at all levels within a forest. The brown treesnake has altered the terrestrial ecology and disrupted the electrical supply of Guam. Bufo marinus (amphibian) Common Names: Aga- Kr. It has become a pest in its introduced range. It will feed on any organism available. It preys on and competes with native amphibians for food and breeding habitat. Capra hircus (mammal) Common Names: goat, Hausziege Goats are herbivores. Their highly varied diet includes plants that are avoided by sheep or cattle, increasing the impact on native vegetation and native animals who use the vegetation for shelter. They easily become feral and can also spread disease to native animals. Goats were often introduced to Pacific islands for their milk or released as potential food for people marooned by shipwrecks. Carcinus maenas (crustacean) Common Names: European shore crab, green crab, strandkrabbe This crab is native to Europe and northern Africa. It has been introduced to the USA, Australia and South Africa. It is a voracious a euryhaline food generalist. The voracious predator in some locations of its introduced range, has caused the decline of other crab and bivalve species. Caulerpa taxifolia (aquatic plant) Common Names: caulerpa, Schlauchalge, sea weed. Caulerpa taxifolia was introduced to the Mediterranean around 1. Monaco Aquarium (Meinesz & Hesse, 1. It is a tropical seaweed but it has adapted well to colder waters and wherever it has established itself. The strain of Caulerpa taxifolia which has colonized the Mediterranean has some unusual morphological and physiological characteristics with respect to the tropical populations (longer fronds, a higher population density, adaptation to a large spectrum of temperatures, higher concentrations of toxic metabolites) (Boudouresque et al., 1. Gacia et al., 1. 99. The competitive sucess of Caulerpa taxifolia over Mediterranean native communities seems to be related to these characteristics but also to the production of toxic secondary metabolites. Cecropia peltata (tree) Common Names: Ameisenbaum, faux- ricin, parasolier, pisse- roux, pumpwood, trumpet tree, yagrumo hembra A tree from tropical America, it was introduced to Hawai’i, French Polynesia, West Africa and Malaysia where it has since become invasive. It spreads in disturbed areas, lava flows, and forest gaps. Cercopagis pengoi (crustacean) Common Names: fishhook waterflea, Kaspischer Wasserfloh Native to the Ponto- Caspian- Aral region, it has been widely introduced in European basins since 1. Recent invasions include the Baltic Sea in 1. Lake Ontario in 1. Lake Michigan and Finger Lakes in 1. Cervus elaphus (mammal) Common Names: Cerf elaphe, Ciervo colorado, Deer, Edelhirsch, elk, European red deer, red deer, Rothirsch, Rotwild, Rothirsch, wapiti Red deer were introduced to several countries in South America. In Argentina they have invaded several National parks, influencing native flora and fauna and possibly disrupting ecological processes. Of particular concern is possible competition with an endangered deer endemic to the southern parts of Chile and Argentina. They also compete with livestock. Chromolaena odorata (herb) Common Names: agonoi, bitter bush, chromolaena, hagonoy, herbe du Laos, huluhagonoi, jack in the bush, kesengesil, mahsrihsrihk, masigsig, ngesngesil , otuot, rumput belalang, rumput Golkar, rumput putih, Siam weed, Siam- Kraut, triffid weed, wisolmatenrehwei A fast- growing perennial shrub native to South America and Central America. It has been introduced and has become an aggressive invasive weed in much of tropical Asia, Africa, and the Pacific.
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