Think Globally Act Locally | The Power Of R

It’s the middle of December and I'm infatuated with lettuce. Romain, Green Leaf, Red Leaf, I’ll eat it all.  In fact, I try to eat lettuce on a daily basis because it’s healthy, full of fibre, full of vitamin C, and fun to eat! It’s crunchy and it can hold an infinite number of other vegetables or dressings in salads. I can roll up my lettuce leaves to make quazi taco’s, or put it in a sandwich. There’s no questioning that lettuce is awesome and I am obviously pretty amped (excited) about it,  but lettuce is also on my mind for other reasons lately. I'm rethinking how I go about things. How I waste, what I waste and what I can do to stop wasting natural resources. At lunchtime I thought about how amazing it was to be eating fresh lettuce in December with snow on the ground.  I can't grow lettuce at this time of year and yet, I'm eating it. Then I thought about how insects like to eat lettuce and that my lettuce leaves were flawless. They were actually so perfect that my attentioned then turned to the plastic box my lettuce came in. I knew right then that this would be no ordinary lunch and rethinking a simple head of lettuce was about to get complicated.

Some lettuce comes from the USA, Mexico or other countries warmer than Canada during the autumn, winter and spring months of the year. Amazingly, lettuce can be harvested, refrigerated, shipped thousands of kilometers, and put on the shelf for us to buy in one week or less. It’s incredible really and it’s all because of oil. Burning oil is the reason we can eat lettuce all year round. Big ships can carry tons of lettuce quickly. If we tried to ship lettuce from Mexico without burning oil or gas, it would be rotten before it left the country. Even if we could ship it by bicycle, we would only be able to carry a few heads at a time. That means that burning oil is essential to my consumption of lettuce over 250 days each year. Crazy. That equates to over one hundred thousand kilometers of gas burning transportation and tons of global warming gasses in the atmosphere just because I eat lettuce almost every day.

All around the world lettuce is difficult to grow because critters, insects, slugs and molds love to eat it too. That means farmers are forced to use poisons and pesticides to keep it looking perfect so we’ll buy it in grocery stores. Anyone who’s grown lettuce in their own garden knows that it can become a leafy hotel for earwigs, spiders and all sorts of whacky bugs. Most of these bugs don’t eat the lettuce but they do enjoy living on, in or around it. Bugs are natural though. It seems really strange to put poison on our food to get rid of those bugs, doesn’t it? Sure a few bugs might be creepy at first or holes in the lettuce might seem imperfect but really, poison, is that the only solution?

Recently I’ve been purchasing organic lettuce. It’s more expensive than regular lettuce but I trust that there’s no poison on it.  When I was making a salad the other day, I noticed that my head of lettuce had six dried up, crusty, dead lady bugs in it. At first I was taken aback, but then I thought it was pretty cool. Lady bugs are predatory. They eat other bugs – especially aphids. That means that the organic farmer who grew that lettuce was using insects instead of pesticides to keep the lettuce protected from other insects. Wow! Lady bugs are cool. I still wash my lettuce well before eating it but I feel good knowing that lady bugs are in my lettuce instead of disease causing pesticides.

Organic lettuce is now being packaged in fancy plastic containers or bags. Plastic is made from oil. I’m happy to see that the plastic boxes that lettuce comes in is recycled but something still seems weird about taking an organic product and wrapping it in oil based packaging. Doesn’t it? Sure the package keeps my food clean, the label looks really fancy and the lettuce comes out of the box all fluffy and delicious but ethically, I still feel like I’m hurting the earth when I eat it. The box goes into my blue box recycling bin; I eat the glorious lettuce, and then I feel bad for eating it. Why does lettuce have to be so complicated?

When I go to the grocery store I am still mystified that the grocery store looks almost exactly the same in December as it did in the July. The fruits and vegetables that I love are all there. Rethinking how I shop has become an interesting project. I want to reduce my eco-footprint every day so now I rethink the things I buy. I am rethinking food that’s wrapped in plastic or wrapped in non-recyclable packages. I am starting to use reusable containers for store bought bulk items. I am purchasing more locally grown produce and meat because it’s not packaged in plastic and it isn't shipped great distances before I eat it; that alone saves the atmosphere from tons of greenhouse gas. Naturally, I walk or ride a bike to the store to buy food whenever I can to reduce waste, energy use and keep my car off of the busy roads. I am looking for lightweight biodegradable bags made from organic materials to put my vegetables in - do you know where I can get some?  I'm doing what I can to lower my eco-footprint but even lettuce has become intertwined with my demanding "want it now - get it now"  lifestyle. I’m used to eating it all year round because it’s available all year round. Something doesn't seem right about that.

Lettuce isn't really that complicated but our lifestyles certainly have changed how we grow, transport, package and purchase foods like  lettuce.  What do you think? How are you rethinking actions in your life to reduce your ecological footprint? Send me your stories, suggestions and ideas about local solutions to global problems. Email powerofr@gmail.com and put “RETHINK - Beyond The Blue Box” in the subject line.