Featured Topic: Lettuce from Australia?
By Vicki Wolf
Lettuce from Australia, peppers from New Zealand, and eggplant from Holland? That’s a a lot of air travel and a lot of fuel burned for food that can be grown so much closer to home.
Gita and Cas VanWoerden call there place near Cat Springs, Texas, Animal Farm. They have a self-sustaining home and farm there. They carry the weekly harvest of fresh organically grown vegetables like bright green lettuce, plump purple eggplant and other luscious vegetables to farmers markets in Houston and Austin. And they supply fresh organic produce to restaurants in Houston, Texas.
Gita Van Woerden is concerned about the fact that 90 percent of the food in Houston is imported. She says it is ridiculous to transport eggplant from Holland where they are grown in greenhouses with artificial heat, when Houston has the perfect weather for growing eggplant. Van Woerden says when trucking becomes impossible because of high fuel prices, people will not be able to get food.
David Crossley, president of Gulf Coast Institute in Houston also is concerned about the sustainability of the global food market. He became concerned after 9/11 when no air travel or transport was allowed. He noted that three days after the ban on air travel was initiated, there was no fish available in Houston restaurants because most of the fish is flown in. Crossley says as fuel prices go up the higher cost for food may drive restaurant and grocery store owners into other businesses.
Van Woerden suggests that people begin to eat according to the seasons, and that more farms need to be located near cities to reduce food travel miles. Do your part to encourage farmers, support the local economy and reduce burning of fossil fuel by buying more food that is locally grown. Listen to the Interviews
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