Well, thanks for taking the journey with me through this deconstruction of food.
In the article, The Oil We Eat, Richard Manning states, “Agriculture in this country is not about food; it’s about commodities that require the outlay of still more energy to become food.” For me, this exercise has really highlighted that notion. The correlation between food and oil is obvious and alarming.
This activity has taught me to look at food in a whole new way. I can only hope that others stop and take a good long look at what they are eating, as well.
Tonight, the kids eat pizza; I opt for something higher in protein and finer. Now, before you condemn this combination, try it.
Tuna – 120g portion/ 140 Calories Consumed
Beans in Tomato Sauce – 375g portion/ 480 Calories Consumed
My investigations begin at the label of the tuna. Nothing beyond what I expect, albacore tuna, salt, water and preservative. Then I notice something interesting. “Product of Thailand.” Hmmm. I go to the Clover Leaf website, but am unable to find anything about there dealings with Thailand. I investigate further and discover that Clover Leaf is a subsidiary of American Co. Bumble Bee Foods which invests in a Thai company, called Sea Value, in 2006.
This is a valuable piece of info. because it turns out that Bumble Bee Foods allows the Thai company to handle their entire tuna process, including chartering (oil), processing (oil), canning (oil) and shipping (big oil). Let’s take a quick look at the processing practices.
Significant things I noted from the FPEAC Seafood Processing Report (http://www.fpeac.org/seafood/IndustrialWasteAbatement-Seafood.pdf)
Precooking – “High energy, water consumption for steam production/ Air pollution – Depending on fuel type”
Can Seeming – “Significant amount of energy is consumed/ Damaged cans create solid waste.”
Can Sterilization – “Energy consumption is the major issue as it causes air pollution.
Wow. Nice find. Next, the cans are loaded (oil) onto shipping freights and shipped (big oil). They are unloaded (oil) at the arrival port and loaded (oil) for transportation (oil) to a Clover Leaf warehouse, where they are unloaded (oil), stored, loaded (oil) and transported (oil) to my local grocery store. Thankfully, I walk to the store for this one!
Last, but not least, Heinz Baked Beans. Here’s some interesting bits from their website.
Also from the website, this… “Every Heinz bean passes a laser beam to ensure it meets our exacting colour specifications.”… not sure what to think about this….
I discover that Heinz baked beans are haricot beans. This is surprisingly difficult to information to uncover. Greenpeace suggests that Heinz beans and tomatoes are genetically modified and thus require high fertilizer inputs (oil). The beans and tomatoes are mass produced and mass harvested (oil). They are loaded (oil) and transported (oil) to a Heinz processing plant, in this case probably Leamington, ON. At the plant, the beans and tomatoes are respectively processed (oil) and canned (oil). When all is ready, the cans are loaded (oil) and transported (oil) to a warehouse in Montreal, where they are unloaded (oil). Upon the beckon call of my local grocer, the cans are loaded (oil) and transported (oil) over to my grocery store. I see them being unloaded (oil) on my way into the store.
It’s lunch time! My plan is to get some healthy fats into my system. I begin with some almonds and smoked salmon. I munch these foods greedily as I begin my studies for the day.
Almonds – 42g portion/ 243 Calories Consumed
Salmon – 45g portion/ 98 Calories Consumed
Beginning with the almonds, I am disappointed to find that my almonds are located in a jar in my cupboard. Therefore, they are not labelled or branded. I ask my wife about them but she cannot remember any details. I guzzle them anyways, like the Big Friend Giant guzzles a snozzcumber. Once again, I will have to speculate about how they arrived in my kitchen.
I’ll assume my almonds came from California because although I know some almonds are grown in the Okanagan Valley, I can’t find much info on Canadian producers. Almonds are grown on trees in beautiful, blooming orchards.
The almond trees are hardy and don’t need much water, so we’ll consider them mild on the chemical inputs. When harvested, the nut bundles are shaken off of branches by a harvesting machine (oil) and left on the ground. A collector machine (oil) then drives by and scoops them into a collector bin. The nuts are then de-husked using electric machines and some must be manually de-husked. Next, the separated nuts are air-dried.
The almonds are usually processed at a plant very near the orchard. They are transported (oil) to the plant after they’ve dried. Here, they are pasteurized (oil) if they are to be sold in Canada or the USA. The final product is conveyed (oil) into plastic packages (oil), loaded (oil) and transported (big oil) all the way across the country. They arrive at my grocery store and I walked over to greet them.
Now, let’s look at the salmon. It is a brand called Medallion, which I learn is from Prince Edward Island. The company claims, “We smoke it over a smokey fire using our exclusive hand cut local Prince Edward Island hardwoods. We add no sweeteners and, of course, no artificial preservatives.” They don’t offer any more detail, so let’s examine a standard process for catching salmon, preparing it and smoking it.
The commercial, salmon fishing business is a complicated, political business. Let’s assume that commercial charters net catch the salmon and transport (big oil) them back to shore. From the dock, they’re manually loaded or craned (oil) into refrigerated storage units and transported (oil) to a processing plant. At the plant, the fish are deep frozen and a number of quality tests are performed. Next, comes processing (oil). After processing, the fillets are packaged (oil) and shipped (oil) to a company like Medallion. Medallion claims to smoke the salmon and prepare it the Old Way. The salmon is shrink wrapped and transported (oil) to grocers across Quebec, including my local grocery store.
After breakfast it’s off to the gym for a workout. Once that is complete, I make my way back home to enjoy the benefits of a protein shake. The shake consists of Ultimate Nutrition Whey Protein, Natrel 1% Organic Milk, Olympic Plain Organic Yogurt and an unknown brand of Banana.
Protein Powder – 66g portion/260 Calories Consumed
Banana – 126g portion/ 112 Calories Consumed
Milk – 250ml portion/ 110 Calories Consumed
Yogurt – 175g portion/ 70 Calories Consumed
I blend up the constituents and ponder their formation.
First, the protein powder. Whey is a byproduct of the cheese making process (oil). It is a liquid milk serum. The product is often purchased from cheese factories, loaded (oil) and transported (oil) to supplement plants. Here, the whey is further processed (oil) to remove lactose and lipids. The product is called whey isolate. Finally, it is dried (oil), packaged into big plastic tubs (oil), loaded (oil) and transported (oil) to my local health food store, in this case, my gym. I walk to the gym.
Since we’ve already discussed the milk process in another post, let’s move on the banana. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to dig up as much specific information about the banana as I had hoped. The bunch of bananas at my house had no labels and I haven’t gone back to the grocery store to inquire. For our purposes, let’s pretend it was a Chiquita banana.
Chiquita mostly owns farms in Latin America. UNCTAD suggests that Latin American banana plantations are large scale operations, that have high inputs (oil) and create high yields. The unit costs are low because volume is so high, this means worker wages are very low and shipping costs are lower than independent shippers. Also, banana plants are notoriously attractive to pests, so high volumes of pesticides are used on the vast majority of plantations.
Bananas are harvested manually. They are collected and carried to tables to be sorted, manually. Once sorted, they are washed, packed and manually loaded onto trucks, where they are transported (oil) to shipping ports. The bananas are then loaded (oil) and shipped (big oil) to North American ports where they are unloaded (oil) and transported (big oil) to various warehouses for ripening and more distribution (oil) to grocers.
Finally, we’ll take a look at the production and transportation of Olympic organic yogurt.
The best thing about the ingredients list on my yogurt is that it contains only skim milk ingredients and bacteria cultures. Since we’ve already taken a look at the milk-getting processes let’s skip over to what Olympic does once they’ve acquire the milk from the dairy farm.
Olympic Dairy factory is located in Fraser Valley, BC. They acquire milk products from certified organic farms in BC. The products are loaded (oil), transported to (oil) and unloaded (oil) at the Olympic Dairy factory. The first process is modification (oil), where fats are removed to get the desired consistency. Next, the milk is pasteurized (oil) and homogenized (oil) to get rid of all bacteria and disperse fat molecules. Then, bacteria cultures are reintroduced into the batch so that fermentation can occur. The resulting yogurt is then poured into plastic containers (oil) and boxed for transport.
Since Olympic Dairy is in BC, the yogurt is transported (big oil) all the way across the country to Montreal. Let’s optimistically say that it is brought right to my grocer.
Coffee brews while I eat my cereal and get the kids dressed for school.
Brown Sugar – 3g portion/11.3 Calories Consumed
Coffee – 178g portion/1.8 Calories Consumed
The first thing I notice about the coffee is that only 1.8 Calories get consumed in a serving. This must mean that the vast majority of engery that went into producing the beans is contained in the used grounds.
Fortunately, those grounds do wonders in our garden. Unfortunately, most people probably throw their used grounds in the garbage. In that case, coffee must represent one of the most energy wasteful products in the world.
I looked into Tim Hortons policies on coffee bean purchasing and was saddened to find that they do not reveal much about their practices. They only vaguely state that they do business with many different growers and participate in sustainability programs. This leads me to fear the worst about their capitalistic endeavours.
Coffee, I’ve learned, is not an energy efficient process in any regard. Let’s examine a generally unsustainable, commercial process. Coffee trees take 3-4 years to bear fruit and require special attention during growth (oil). Once the fruit is ready, it is harvested using cherry pickers (oil/labour). The “wet cherries” are loaded (oil) and transported (oil) to a processing area (oil) where they are softened and the fruit is removed from the bean. Then the beans are sorted and packaged (probably plastic bags [oil]). Transporting (oil) the beans from tropical plantations usually requires air freight (big oil). The plane lands and the beans are unloaded (oil) and loaded (oil) for transportation (oil) to a roasting plant. At the plant, the beans are unloaded (oil) and roasted (oil).
Once the beans are roasted, they’re packaged (oil), loaded (oil) and shipped (oil) to my local Tim Hortons. I walked across a parking lot, over to Tim Hortons to purchase them. I noticed a ridiculous number of oil puddles.
Next up, Redpath brown sugar. I was immediately dismayed to discover that my brown sugar as actually refined white sugar with molasses added to it. The discovery defeated my whole intention of using brown sugar to avoid the refinement process. Next time, I will investigate more thoroughly!
Let’s have a look at exactly how the sugar got to my kitchen.
Sugar cane is grown in tropical and sub-tropical regions. The plant is harvested (oil/labour), loaded (oil) and shipped (big oil) overseas to companies like Redpath.
Now, Redpath makes two interesting claims. One, “Redpath Sugar Ltd. has been awarded the Canadian Industry Program for Energy Conservation (CIPEC) Leadership Award for 2009.” And two, “We use ocean going ships to transport raw sugar to our plant, the greenest way possible.”
At the factory, it is milled (oil) and the juices are extracted. Next, the juice is boiled so that water can evaporate out. This steam is said to enhance the energy efficiency of the factory. The resulting liquid is spun and dried (oil) and stored.
“In the cane sugar factory the bagasse (cane fiber) fuel is renewable and the gases it produces, essentially CO2, are more than used up by the new cane growing. Add to that the factory use of low grade heat [a system called co-generation] and one can see that a well run cane sugar estate is environmentally friendly.” – www.sucrose.com
At Redpath factories, the raw sugar is refined. The processes involved are softening, carbonation, decolorization and boiling. Since the finer-gas claim can’t be used here, I will speculate the following… oil, oil, oil and oil. The product is then packaged. My sugar came in a plastic bag (oil)…. I should have known! It is then loaded (oil) and transported (oil) to the grocery store. I walk to the grocery store.
The ingredients list is short, containing only partly skimmed milk and some added vitamins. Nothing outstanding here, so let’s consider the on-farm processes of milk-making.
Natrel is a dairy subsidiary of the Agropur agricultural cooperative. They claim that their milk is collected from Canadian, certified organic dairy farms. The Canada Food Inspection Agency notes that “All products with an organic content of 95% or greater are considered organic and may be labelled with the word organic.” OK. I effort but can not find out if the cows on these farms are actually fed with organically grown (sans Haber) grains. Let’s feel good about the world and say that they are!
At these certified organic dairy farms, cows graze leisurely in fields and also eat some harvested grains (oil). Twice a day the cows are brought in for milking. The milking machines (oil) extract unprocessed milk from the cows and store it in huge refrigerated, agitated containers. The milk is pumped (oil?) from storage to transport tanks and then transported (oil) to the factory. At the factory the milk is processed (oil) by pasteurization, homogenization, separation and filtration. Next, it is packaged and transported (oil) to my local grocery store. I walk to pick it up and I walk it home.
Interesting tid bit…. According to ADAS Consulting for MAFF, Project OF0182, DEFRA, London, 2001…”In the case of milk production, it has been found that organic systems are almost five times more energy efficient on a per animal basis and three and a half times more energy efficient in terms of unit output (the energy required to produce a litre of milk)”
Good Morning! The sun is shining, the kids are awake and now it’s time to sit down to a nice bowl of high fiber cereal. Today’s choice….
All Bran – 50 gram Portion/ 125 Calories Consumed
Let’s take a look at the ingredients and see what stands out…..
Hmm… wheat bran, sugar, high fructose corn syrup, standard preservatives and added vitamins.
YIKES. Sugar AND high fructose corn syrup? There’s 6g of sugar in a 30gram portion but that does seem like a bit much. Let’s see what Richard Manning thinks about it….
“The grinding, milling, wetting, drying, and baking of a breakfast cereal requires about four calories of energy for every calorie of food energy it produces.” (Manning)
“American pandemic of obesity tracks rather nicely with the fivefold increase in corn-syrup production since Archer Daniels Midland developed a high-fructose version of the stuff.” (Manning)
Our first major consideration is that this cereal is made up largely of wheat and corn, two of the three major crops grown in North America. These crops are grown for commercial purposes, in monocultures, and using large amounts of Haber-Processed Nitrogen.
What’s the Haber Process, you ask? The Haber Process uses atmospheric nitrogen and industrially converts it into ammonia, which can then be converted into plant-useable forms of nitrogen. Vaclav Smil has estimated that the Haber Process uses 1–2% of the world’s annual energy supply just for making fertilizer and explosives. Wow, deadly combination. And what happens to excess nitrogen that runs off of agricultural land?
So, where else is oil used to get that cereal to my breakfast bowl? Well, the plants are harvested (oil) and transported (oil) to processing factories. The wheat bran is a byproduct of wheat processing (oil) and the corn syrup is enzymatically processed (oil) from corn to glucose to fructose. These are packaged (oil) and transported (oil) to a Kelloggs Plant. The combo is ground, milled and baked (oil) and conveyed (oil) into a plastic bag which was processed (oil) somewhere else. The bag is then inserted (oil) into recycled (oil), boxed cardboard, which was printed with the Kelloggs brand. Once complete, the box is transported (oil) and unloaded (oil) at my neighbourhood grocery store. I walked to the store (phew!).
Welcome friends. Today I will attempt to deconstruct the food that I consume to the respective sources that transform them from solar energy into the delicious edibles that make up my meals.
We’ll begin by breaking down each meal into individual foods. We’ll then consider the caloric value of each portion and the listed ingredients. Next, we’ll look into any particularly “oily” ingredient and consider it’s production process. After that we’ll examine how the bundle of ingredients might have arrived in my kitchen.
Now, I won’t be able to quantify every process (we’ll save that sort of accuracy for the doctorate students) but I will account for any difficult processes with as much detail as possible. So, in fact, this will be a representative deconstruction of…..
