Many of the environmentally conscience enthuse about buying all organic fruits and vegetables. Their enthusiasm makes sense because organic means that the farmer did not spray tons and tons of pesticides all over the crop and the surrounding area. However, there is another side of the story. If you've ever looked at that sticker that they put on the fruit you might have noticed that it read Peru or some other far away South American country. Nowadays food can come from all over, but organic tends to come from farther away, especially now in the heart of winter. Purchasing fruit from far far away is not necessarily a good environmental choice because that means that fruit has a large environmental footprint! It takes a lot of fuel to fly, drive, or boat a measly little apple from so far away. I am not saying that organic is bad, it is just not wholly good. So if you're caught in the grocery store debating whether it is more environmentally conscience to purchase the organic banana from Argentina or the conventional orange from Florida, perhaps you should chose the conventional one with a smaller carbon footprint. However, there is no clear winner in this situation. The debate between organic and local may be something you have to debate every shopping trip of your life. I think it is just good to be aware of both sides.
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