by Matt Gould 

On the open California highways one may be lucky enough to spot the hottest new sports car, a luxury vehicle imported from Germany, or a high-tech motorcycle capable of insane speeds. More times than not, however, it’s an eighteen-wheeler filled to the brim with fruits or vegetables.

In 1996 alone, U.S. consumers spent $547 billion on food, and it took $424 billion to transport this food to the consumer. The majority of agricultural products exported from California are destined for the eastern United States, thousands of miles of pollution-ridden asphalt away. And, this is just food in it’s raw state before processing.

After a food item has been to the factory and fashioned into the neatest package, say a McDonald’s caesar salad, it is then ready for a new journey. Aboard another oversized trucking behemoth, our nutritional merchandise is dispatched to every corner of the country (including back to California), and sometimes internationally. The energy required for such an operation is obviously monumental, and ultimately unpractical.

The amount of energy put into preparing this meal is balanced by the energy saved by the consumer who buys it. For many people, what begins as an accessible way to fill their gut turns into a complete reliance on convenience. And with thirty and sixty-minute lunches, sometimes there’s no choice. A nice three-hour siesta is starting to sound like a good idea.

In fact, when you look at the world as a whole, you will see that Americans are unique in their taste for Doritos over dim sum, Betty Crocker over bhuna curry, and Krispy Kreme over coeur a la creme. As long as I can remember people have joked about how fresh the meat is in Chinatown, how much time is required to eat at a French restaurant, and that they won’t eat anything looking back at them. Who’s the joke really on?

I recently saw a commercial where a girl prepares a nice meal for her boyfriend and his friends. One of the guys sneaks away to a nearby fast food vendor, where he purchases enough food for everyone. Upon returning to their apartment, he wraps up the girls entire spread and trashes it, to the cheers of his roommates. They celebrate victory by unwrapping the burgers.

This is just another reason to support your local organic food stores and start a garden of your own. By growing food for ourselves and our neighbors in a more coordinated effort, we can help lessen our reliance on processed and industrialized foods.