In times of energy crisis, in which we become more aware about the value of energy and how difficult it is to store, have we contemplated the energy consumption for having fresh vegetables in our fridges? or in the restaurants we like to dine in? if the answer is yes, what is the cost of it NOT being local or organic?
Let’s look at an example: Spain imported more than 900,000 tones of potatoes in 2020, mostly from France. The footprint doesn’t only come from the fuel necessary for its transportation, it’s also from production. How much does its cost to produce a potato? We won’t look solely at the economic cost, but at the global cost.
In conventional cultivation, the use of synthetic preservatives is required for fresh vegetables to get to our fridge from another country. These have been manipulated in a parallel industry, who’s raw materials have also been imported from other countries. For that cultivation to have been productive they will have used chemical fertilizers, with components like phosphorus that are extracted from mines in Morocco, to then be manipulated in another industry in another country, and finally, imported back to the country of production. The same happens with pesticides that are used to combat plagues, another parallel industry where the same scheme is repeated; importation of raw materials from other regions, manipulation in factories and imported back again.
Fossil fuels are used for the transportation and transformation, resulting in the generation of pollution, which is emitted into the atmosphere and our waters. This leads us to the next question, what can we do to reduce this cycle? The answer is simple: responsible, local and organic consumption.
The responsibility lies in our hands, even just as consumers, demanding a healthy product that has no traces of chemicals used for their production. Also, choosing not to waste foods that we know we won’t end up eating.
Choosing local provides us with the opportunity to reduce the amount of fuel used in transportation, and supports small producers living in your community. Additionally, organic production gives us the chance to cut this polluting cycle, at the same time as preserving and improving the atmosphere that surrounds us.
There are many goals in organic agriculture, some may sound very technical to the consumer; keeping the soil fertile, avoiding the deterioration of the structure, using appropriate cultivation techniques etc. In conclusion, the aim is to produce high quality, nutritional organoleptic food, optimizing resources that are available in the area, taking advantage of local potential.
Furthermore, synthetic-chemical substances should not be used, neither should pollutants, that in one way or another, end up as traces in our vegetables, and therefore, in our organism, meaning a polluting industry is associated. Another benefit is that it improves the environment around us, avoiding polluting water with leachates, improving the biodiversity of our fields, and preserves our soil resulting in longer lasting fertility.
All of this ultimately creates quality, fresh and local products. It’s important that we change our vision of the true value of an organic product, which in turn will make us see that it’s a small price to pay for the positive effects it has on our planet.
ECOLOGICAL FARM CAN ZOL
Carretera Ibiza Portinatx, Km 9,8
(07849) Santa Eulalia del Río
678 98 90 03
info@canzolibiza.com
Fb: Can Zol / IG @canzolibiza