Deep Economy- What Eco Diet
The time to take conscience
Prior to reading chapter two of Bill Mckibben’s book, Deep Economy, I had never thought about food beyond its taste and affordability. According to McKibben, eating local farm products is a better choice for environmental reasons. This point of view prompts me to evaluate the pros and cons of food selection and sources in my current diet. Am I making the right choices for a sustainable life? Before answering this question, I will describe what I usually eat. My diet consists of a mixture of homemade or fast foods. On a typical school day, for breakfast, I drink a cup of coffee at Starbucks which accompanied by a delicious bread produced by Franz and some California strawberries. For lunch, I eat food from the school’s cafeteria; usually two slices of pizza and snacks from the vending machines. For dinner, I cook traditional meals, such as “Ndole” (a typical Cameroonian dish) which principal ingredients are: a spinach-like vegetable and prawns. “Ndole” is delicious and eating that meal reminds me of a lot of my home country. To prepare most meals, I usually get ingredients from the nearest grocery stores to my house in Bothell, Washington. Now, I am curious to analyze where the food in my diet is sourced from and what might be the implications such diet.
I primarily do grocery shopping at the following food stores: Central Market, Safeway, Fred Meyer and Costco. The last time I made” Ndole”, I bought prawns and peanuts from Central Market. I discovered that the prawns were farm-raised in Mexico, which means they travelled at least 1880 miles and have spent at least 3 days to get to the store. I bought the “Ndole” leaves from an African store in Seattle. Most products in this ethnic store are imported from Africa. The estimated distance is around 79,351 miles, and the transit time to Seattle
Prior to reading chapter two of Bill Mckibben’s book, Deep Economy, I had never thought about food beyond its taste and affordability. According to McKibben, eating local farm products is a better choice for environmental reasons. This point of view prompts me to evaluate the pros and cons of food selection and sources in my current diet. Am I making the right choices for a sustainable life? Before answering this question, I will describe what I usually eat. My diet consists of a mixture of homemade or fast foods. On a typical school day, for breakfast, I drink a cup of coffee at Starbucks which accompanied by a delicious bread produced by Franz and some California strawberries. For lunch, I eat food from the school’s cafeteria; usually two slices of pizza and snacks from the vending machines. For dinner, I cook traditional meals, such as “Ndole” (a typical Cameroonian dish) which principal ingredients are: a spinach-like vegetable and prawns. “Ndole” is delicious and eating that meal reminds me of a lot of my home country. To prepare most meals, I usually get ingredients from the nearest grocery stores to my house in Bothell, Washington. Now, I am curious to analyze where the food in my diet is sourced from and what might be the implications such diet.
I primarily do grocery shopping at the following food stores: Central Market, Safeway, Fred Meyer and Costco. The last time I made” Ndole”, I bought prawns and peanuts from Central Market. I discovered that the prawns were farm-raised in Mexico, which means they travelled at least 1880 miles and have spent at least 3 days to get to the store. I bought the “Ndole” leaves from an African store in Seattle. Most products in this ethnic store are imported from Africa. The estimated distance is around 79,351 miles, and the transit time to Seattle