Oranges – not just travel
Jul 8th, 2011 by moniquewong
By boat or plane, then by truck upon truck, then by Honda 1997 CRV, then by bus. At least I know my bus may be a hybrid.
Other than that, largely dependent on fuel to power it’s trek. There are other aspects though, other than the conventional thought of transportation, where fuel enters the production of food , like oranges. In fact somewhere around 10 calories of oil is put into every calorie of food produced nowadays (Manning), not including transportation.
Growing Oranges
Let’s take a look at the producer side of the story. A simple Wikipedia search yields these results:
Oranges can be grown outdoors in warmer climates, and indoors in cooler climates. Like most citrus plants, oranges will not do well unless kept between 15.5°C – 29°C (60°F – 85°F). … Oranges require a huge amount of water and the citrus industry in the Middle East is a contributing factor to the desiccation of the region. … Oranges are sensitive to frost, and a common treatment to prevent frost damage when sub-freezing temperatures are expected is to spray the trees with water … Another strategy to prevent freezing of orange crops and trees is burning fuel oil in smudge pots (also known as a choofa or orchard heater). These burn with a great deal of particulate emission. … Smudge pots were first developed after a disastrous freeze in Southern California in January 1913 wiped out a whole crop.
This means that my oranges were being grown probably indoors kept warm by smudge pots. Never mind the particulate emission, but the heating and the electricity that must have been used to keep my oranges warm. This led me to research a bit into the source of electricity in California.
Again, from Wikipedia. Mainly fuelled by natural gas – meaning energy from the sun. And coal stuck out too – another source of hydrocarbon related energy.
A bit more digging though revealed to me the use of pesticides in oranges. In order to avoid the citrus greening disease, a bacterium that damages the fruit and kills the trees in 5-8 years, pesticides have been used on orange trees. Pesticides , as we know, is based very heavily on petrochemicals.
Sources:
Richard Manning, “The Oil We Eat: Following the Food Chain Back to Iraq,” Harper’s Magazine, February 2004: 37-45