Where%does%my%food%come%from?%...

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Where does my food come from?

Task 1: Food advertisement Watch the following advertisement -‐ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUtnas5ScSE What issues of sustainability can you identify from the advertisement? Food Miles

We are all consumers of a range of things from food, clothes and energy to cars and TVs; the list is endless! Energy is used to make, package and transport goods. Food is one product we all buy and use. Why not use your campaign to influence others to think about the carbon footprint of food. By choosing locally produced, in season, organic food rather than food that has been grown in a heated greenhouse or transported for miles we can make a difference. What are food miles? Food miles are the distance food travels from the farm to our plates. Energy is used to grow, process, transport and store food. We even use energy to shop! All of this uses energy, which can lead to carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere. This has to be considered when looking at the carbon footprint of our food.

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Packaging Most products will have packaging to protect them and attract people to buy them. However, some packaging is unnecessary, and energy is used to make it, put it on the product and transport it from the factory, to the shop and to your home. Seasonal produce Fruit and vegetables can have a certain growing season and will be ready to harvest and eat at a certain time of year. For example, strawberries, grown outdoors will be ripe in summer. Some fruit and vegetables are grown in heated greenhouses or imported from warmer countries so they are available during winter. This uses energy, so it’s better to choose food that is ‘in season’.

Task 2: In this section, you need to analyse your meal by using food miles calculator and GHG emissions table.

Use your meal analysis worksheet to calculate :

1. Use http://www.foodmiles.com/allfoods.cfmto to find the list of all the products ever searched for on this website. Scroll down through the list to where banana and rice appear. Click into each link separately and you will find the Top 10 countries from where the searches came from. Why do you think there is a difference between the 10 countries listed for banana and 10 countries listed for rice?

2. Find out the GHG emissions (Greenhouse Gas Emissions) of your meal. Equation: Miles travelled X GHG emissions To simplify our calculation, we assume:

• Local ingredient-‐ by truck • Mainland China ingredient-‐ by train • Asia imported ingredient-‐ by boat • Overseas (outside Asia) imported ingredient-‐ by plane

Grams of GHG emissions per mile traveled for each kg of food

For example: If a kilogram of tomatoes from Canada travels 4200 miles to reach Hong Kong. Since it is an overseas ingredient, it travels by plane, the equation as below: 4200 miles x 1.1010 = 4624.2 grams of GHG emissions

Plane 1.1010 Train 0.0212 Truck 0.2699 Boat 0.1303

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Now it’s your turn, take the following ingredients for Sunday dinner and calculate the food miles and corresponding GHG emissions: 1 kg of rice from Beijing, China 2 kgs of beef from Canberra, Australia 1 kg of oranges from the Washington D.C. (District of Columbia), United States 1 kg of carrots from Shenzhen, China 1 kg of coffee from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 2 litres (use 7 kgs) of natural spring water from Paris, France 1 kg of mixed herbs from Bangkok, Thailand 1 litre of milk (use 3.5 kgs) from Wellington, New Zealand 1 kg of Ice cream from Milan, Italy You can use this website to calculate the distance between Hong Kong and the other locations mentioned above http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/distance.html

Task 3: We will compare the miles travelled and GHG emissions of four products that are available both locally and from abroad.

Grams of GHG emissions per mile traveled for each kg of food

Ingredients Food Miles (mile) GHG emissions (gram)

Total

Plane 1.1010 Train/rail car 0.0212 Truck/car 0.2699 Boat 0.1303

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Product 1: Chicken (a) Chicken – Local

Kamei Chicken嘉美雞 It was raised by ______________________________ in _______________________________. The chicken took ___________ trips to get to your plate. Find out how many miles it traveled and how it went to each place.

Trip Traveled From

Traveled to Traveled by Miles traveled

GHG emissions

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3

4

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Total miles traveled: Total GHG emissions

I am a Kamei Chicken嘉美雞

• I was raised at Happy Farm in Sheung Shui, New Territories.

• First, I was transported 17.4miles by truck to Tsuen Wan, New Territories for processing and was stored in a freezer until the Welcome Supermarket.

• Then, I was transported 30.4miles to the Welcome Supermarket in Aberdeen,

Hong Kong Island by truck for sale.

• Last, I was transported 6.2 miles by car to your home/plate after you purchased me for dinner.

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(b) Chicken – non local

Non-‐local Chicken It was raised by ______________________________ in _______________________________. The chicken took ___________ trips to get to your plate. Find out how many miles it traveled and how it went to each place.

Trip Traveled From


GHG emissions

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2

3

4

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Total miles traveled: Total GHG emissions:

I am chicken

• I was raised at Cherry’s farm in Saka Eo, Thailand where I was processed and packaged.

• First, I was transported 126.7 miles to the Tyson Chicken Company in Bangkok,

Thailand by truck for distribution. • Next, I was transported 82.6 miles to the QQ Distribution Center in Bangkok,

Thailand by truck for distribution • Next, I was transported 1072.4 miles from Bangkok to Hong Kong by cargo plane

for distribution. • Afterwards, I was transported 20 miles from the airport to Mongkok Wet Market,

Kowloon by truck for sale.

• Last I traveled 8 miles by car from Mongkok to your plate after you purchased me for dinner.

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Product 2 – Bread (a) Bread – locally produced

Local bread It was made from ______________________________grown at ______________________ in _______________________________. The wheat/bread took ___________ trips to get to your plate. Find out how many miles it traveled and how it went to each place.

Trip Traveled From


GHG emissions

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• I am made from wheat grown and milled into flour at Yummy’s Grains in Tuen Mun, New Territories.

• First, I was transported 8.8 miles to San Po Kong, Kowloon by truck to K & K

Baking Company to be baked into bread.

• Next, I was transported 13.3 miles to City Market in Aberdeen, Hong Kong Island by truck for sale.

• Last, I was transported 4.9 miles by car to your home/plate after you purchased

me for dinner.

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(b) Bread – non local

Non-‐local bread It was made from ______________________________grown at ______________________ in _______________________________. The wheat/bread took ___________ trips to get to your plate. Find out how many miles it traveled and how it went to each place.

Trip Traveled From


GHG emissions

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4

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• I am made from wheat grown at unknown farms in Guangzhou, China • First the wheat was transported 84.4 miles to Shenzhen, China by rail car where it

was milled into flour. • Then, it was transported 30.7 miles to LePage Bakery in Shenzhen by truck where

it was baked into bread.

• After that, I was transported 21.3 miles by truck to Wellcome supermarket in Wan Chai, Hong Kong Island for sale.

• Last, I was transported 9.3 miles by car to your plate after you purchased me for

dinner.

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Product 3 Tomato Tomato – locally grown

Local Tomato

It was grown at ______________________ in _______________________________. The tomato took ___________ trips to get to your plate. Find out how many miles it traveled and how it went to each place.

Trip Traveled From


GHG emissions

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4

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Total miles traveled: Total GHG emissions

• I was grown in your backyard garden.

• I was picked and traveled 0mile from the vine to your plate.

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(b) Foreign-‐sourced tomato

Non-‐local Tomato

It was grown at ___________________ in ______________________ . The tomato took ___________ trips to get to your plate. Find out how many miles it traveled and how it went to each place.

Trip Traveled From


GHG emissions

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4

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• I was grown at an unknown farm in San Joaquin, California.

• First, I was transported 19.8 miles to Sun Ripe Farms in Exeter, California by truck for washing and packaging and distribution.

• Next, I was transported 226 miles to Ontario International Airport in California by

truck for distribution in Hong Kong.

• Then I was transported 7063 miles by plane to Hong Kong.

• Afterwards, I was transported 30.1 miles from the airport to CitySuper, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong Island by truck for sale.

• Last I traveled 9.9 miles by car from CitySuper to your plate after you purchased

me for dinner.

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Product 4: Ice-‐cream (a) Locally produced ice-‐cream

Local Ice Cream

It was made from ___________________ that came from ______________________ . The milk/ice-‐cream took ___________ trips to get to your plate. Find out how many miles it traveled and how it went to each place.

Trip Traveled From

Traveled to Traveled by Miles Travelled

GHG emissions

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4

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• I am made from cows’ milk. The milk came from cows raised in Fan Ling, New Territories.

• First, the milk was transported an average of 17.6 miles by truck to the Harry’s

Dairy Cooperative by truck where it was pasteurized and distributed.

• Next, I was transported 10.7 miles by truck to the Ben & Jerry’s Factory in Kwai Chung, New Territories to be made into ice cream.

• Then, I was transported 9.9 miles to Sogo in Causeway Bay by truck, Hong Kong

Island by truck for sale.

• Last I traveled 5.1 miles from Sogo by car to your plate after I was purchased for your dinner.

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(b) Foreign-‐produced ice-‐cream

Non-‐local Ice-‐ cream It was made from ___________________ that came from ______________________ .

The milk/ice-‐cream took ___________ trips to get to your plate. Find out how many miles it traveled and how it went to each place.

Trip Traveled

From

Traveled to Traveled by Miles

travelled

GHG

emissions

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5

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Total miles traveled:

Total GHG emissions:

• I am made from cows’ milk. The cows were raised at an unknown farm in Watertown, US.

• First, the milk transported 46.6 miles to Milwaukee, US by truck for pasteurization. • Next, the milk was transported 1051 miles to Breyer’s Ice Cream Processing Plant in

Framingham, US by truck, where it was made into ice cream, labeled, and packaged. • Then, I was transported 229 miles to the Breyers Ice Cream Distribution Warehouse

in New York, US by truck for distribution. • Then I was transported 8047 miles by plane to Hong Kong

• Afterwards, I was transported 30.1 miles from the airport to Sogo, Causeway, Hong

Kong Island by truck for sale.

• Last I traveled 5.15 miles from Sogo by car to your plate after I was purchased for your dinner.

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Task 4: Write a reflection on what you have learned in this unit topic

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