In Sweden, as in other industrial countries, food travels across continents and over oceans before it reaches the table. Two new publications examine how much energy and greenhouse gases are produced in producing food and getting it to Sweden. Both of them are starting points for discussion rather than peer-reviewed literature-and the discussions turn up some surprises.
On November 14, the Stockholm Consumer’s Association released a study of the environmental effect of broccoli production and transport to Stockholm. The study was carried out by the Swedish Institute for Food and Biotechnology. Broccoli was chosen as a case study because the broccoli sold in Sweden comes from just a few countries with very different agricultural conditions.
The “Broccoli report” showed that broccoli produced in Sweden led to 60% less greenhouse emissions than imported broccoli. And 99% of all broccoli that is consumed in Sweden is imported, with Spain and Ecuador as major exporters. Interestingly enough, transporting the broccoli from Ecuador produced about 40% of the greenhouse gas emissions of transporting Spanish broccoli even though the broccoli from Ecuador is transported 12,000 km compared to 3,200 km for Spanish broccoli. Ecuador’s broccoli is shipped by boat to Rotterdam, by feeder boat to Gothenburg, Sweden, and then by truck to Stockholm. Spanish broccoli travels by truck the entire way.
The report also calculates the economic costs of broccoli from different sources. Switching entirely to Swedish-produced broccoli would cost more than twice as much as the current mix of 1% Swedish, 33% Spanish, and 66% Ecuadorian and Guatemalan.
Louise Ungerth, head of Stockholm Consumer’s Association, says, “The report stimulates a number of thoughts. For one thing, truck transport is too cheap today, given its high environmental consequences. And economically, the very low costs of production in Ecuador are not reflected in the price in the store. The Ecuadorian farm worker is paid peanuts, yet broccoli from Ecuador in our freezer generally costs more than Spanish broccoli.”
The Stockholm Consumer’s Association is a part-owner of Kooperativa Förbundet, which owns cooperative grocery stores throughout Scandinavia. Their mission includes ensuring that consumers have access to reasonably priced, environmentally friendly, and genuine food and goods.
The Broccoli Report (in Swedish) can be downloaded at www.konsumentforeningenstockholm.se/upload/Konsumentfrågor/Broccolirapporten.pdf (PDF) Information about the report is available from Louise Ungerth, +46 8-714 39 71, Ulrika Lamberth, +46 8-714 39 72, or [email protected]
On November 19, the national newspaper Svenska Dagbladet published an article on the impact of food imports in general. The reporter, Henrik Ennart, bought 50 ordinary food products and calculated the distance they had traveled, just based on information about their origin on their labels. Together, they had traveled more than 390,000 km, further than the distance from the earth to the moon. Ennart admits that this is a conservative estimate, pointing out that Norwegian salmon is flown to Asia to be made into sushi and then sent back to Sweden. And French garlic is shipped to Kenya to be braided before being sold in Scandinavia.
Ennart points out that the short distance home from the store can contribute a significant percentage of some food’s greenhouse gas emissions: Driving 30 kg of food 8 km in a car is comparable to nearly 1,000 km transport in a truck, or 32 km with an airplane, calculated per kilogram transported.
Even though the experiment was done during Swedish harvest season, Ennart reports that the fruits and vegetables in the store were predominantly imported-often from Brazil, South Africa, and New Zealand.
The article (in Swedish) is available at www.svd.se/dynamiskt/inrikes/did_14093095.asp
