Our research is about local food. We still need to improve it, so every comment is helpfull to make it better.
by Arne Meynaerts and Lander Michiels
Introduction
They always tell us that local food is better for the environment and the economy, but why is that? Does it really slow down climate change? Why is it usual more expensive then other products? Most important what is exactly local food?
Local food is a rather wide group of products. To make it easier to explain we chose to do research around an apple tree.
What is needed for apple production?
Logically, an area of land is needed to grow apple trees, which already is a large part of the investment. Other than that, also land preparation and an initial investment in the trees are required to produce apples. As of the land, farmers have to be aware on what soil they are growing their apples. This soil has to be prepared during a time when the soil’s not frozen or overly saturated with water. Some common amendments to grow apple trees are: compost, sand, manure and if needed, something to regulate the soils pH. Another thing that has to be kept in mind, is that the apple trees cannot block each other’s sunlight, since apple trees need a lot of it to effectively produce their fruits. After the trees are planted, they have to be taken care of to be as productive as possible. First of all, they’ll need water, but this most likely isn’t a problem as long as it rains 2,5 cm every ten days during the growing season. Also, fertilizer increases the tree’s productivity, because it replenishes the soil with nutrients. Thirdly, and this is mostly for commercial production, pest and diseases commonly occur, so controlling and making sure the trees are healthy are key in the process of producing apples.
What happens after the food is farmed?
The apples get picked by seasonal workers. They have a permit to do this job for 65 days. The apples go in to paloxes ( a special box) and the transportation begins. The transportation of a local apple goes by truck. The apples are delivered or in a warehouse or directly in your local supermarket. In the warehouse they get stored in a freezer with an atmosphere with less oxygen. They keep them there to restock the supermarkets the whole year trough. The apples get checked out by outside parties in Belgium it is called FFV. They visit the fridges with apples unexpected and do test on a couple of them.
Is local food so much beter for the environment?
Your Granny Smith needs to come from Australia. It needs to travel by boat or plane what makes it more polluting then an apple that only gets transported by truck. Also, the time of transportation is important. The longer between the harvest and the consummation of the product the less nutrients there are in it. Transportation is only 5 percent of the emission. Eighty-three percent is due to the production. If you produce products that aren’t adjusted to your climate you need to use more energy to get it growing. For example, if we can’t to produce bananas we have to put them in conservatory with heating. This heating cost a lot of energy and it isn’t necessary.
Why is local and organic food more expensive then global food?
There are multiple answers to this question as there are quite a few different reasons. First of all, workers here get way higher wages than workers who often are underpaid somewhere else in the world. Also, when organically producing apples, it’s more difficult to control pest and diseases, so the cost of this is also higher. Food, that isn’t locally grown, is often produced on a very large scale which makes it cheaper as well. Another reason might be that growing seasons for certain crops here are shorter than in other areas in the world.
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VETJEBOL, Waarom lokaal eten, internet, s.d..(https://www.vetjebol.nl/voeding/waarom-lokaal-eten/)
KULEUVEN, Hoeveel energie verbruikt een appel, internet, 28 april 2015. (https://nieuws.kuleuven.be/nl/campuskrant/1415/08/hoeveel-energie-verbruikt-je-appel)
EOSTRACE, Tracé van een appel, internet, s.d. (https://eostrace.be/traces/trace-van-appel)
COOKTOWN GREEN, Why is local organic produce more expensive, internet, 5 februari 2017. (http://www.cookstowngreens.com/site/blog/2017/02/05/why-is-local-food-more-expensive)