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.
Bumble Bee Foods invests in Thailand’s Sea Value | Asia Food Journal.
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.
