I must (shockingly) admit that I am no chicken farmer, nor do I possess the skills (or land for that matter) required to grow my own fruits and vegetables.

As a result, majority of my food was purchased from one of only two groceries stores near where I live. This week’s groceries were purchased at Claytons Heritage Market in Sechelt, BC.

 

First of all, I must point out that this grocery store is (at best) a 20 minute drive from my house. Side note -the gym is 40 minutes away which just shows you have to be fairly committed to be willing to drive that far 5 times a week. But anyway, my point being that living in a small town, or in my case outside of a small town, requires me to drive everywhere to do anything. Unlike when I lived in the city, walking and public transit are not reliable options here. As a result, my Suzuki and the gas I so painfully refill every 3-4 days are necessary for me to purchase  groceries. There is a  farmers market on Saturday mornings (which is just as far away, right outside the main grocery store) as well as my grandma’s brilliant garden where I can find some fresh produce. However, be it to the farmers market, to the grocery store or to my grandparent’s, all journeys require emissions from my car.

As Manning mentions, we must consider our personal contributions to transporting the food from the stores or markets to our houses. Regardless of where my groceries originated from, I still bear responsibility for the emissions required to physically transport the food to my home.

This is just an unfortunate fact; if I want food (which I always do -see first post for a reminder about how much I love food) I have to drive somewhere to get it. Ultimately, even the simplest act of buying groceries contributes to a much larger issue of fossil fuel and oil energy use. While I could probably bike or run (literally) to town when I needed food this is time consuming and not practical for my life.

Writing this post I have noticed something. Living in this small I have no choice but to drive my car to purchase groceries. While I lived in the city I was always able to take the bus to and from school and to buy groceries on my walk home. In some ways, that situation was better because I did not drive and ultimately limited my contribution to emissions with regards to purchasing groceries. However, the opportunity for locally produced food was reduced because since I was walking and could not go far my options were also limited.

To summarize this thought:

Small Town =More Access to Local Product = Must Drive

City Life = Less Access to Local Product = Able to Walk

I’m not going to argue which is better, or which I prefer, but rather just conclude that regardless of where I am living each situation has noticeable pros and cons.

 

Source:

Richard Manning, “The Oil We Eat: Following the Food Chain Back to Iraq,” Harper’s Magazine, February 2004, 37-45. http://ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/login?url=http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/docview/233478610?accountid=14656