We can take steps to lessen our ‘food-print’

Do you know where your food actually comes from? Most people buy the vast majority of their food from a supermarket, but how did that food get there? I took a conservation biology class this semester and it has given me a new perspective on the effect my food has on the environment.

So, when I recently bought some strawberries from a local grocery and saw the “California” sticker on the box, I immediately thought of the harmful effects those strawberries have on the environment. For instance, those strawberries traveled 2,000 miles to arrive at my grocery, which means that the roads that they traveled on interrupt vast expanses of natural habitat. When a species' habitat is disrupted, many ecological mishaps occur, and sometimes the mishaps turn into extinction for the species.

Additionally, 2,000 miles of driving equates to more than one ton of carbon emissions. A more eco-friendly solution to my California strawberries would have been to purchase some local fare in a month or so from one of the farmers markets in Eastern Iowa. All food has some sort of negative impact on the environment, but there are many steps we can take to lessen our “food-print.”

Anne Daily

Anamosa