Perils of Pork and Peppers

When I am at my most socially responsible in my consumption, I plan meals, buy local, and am truly connected to my role in the larger scheme. Living in Bay View provides me many opportunities to hold to these standards when I am able. While I do not always consume responsibly, when I do, OutpostNatural Foods is a perfect place to shop. They offer many locally sourced and organic items. Also, they provide detailed information on the products they sell, so even if they aren’t harvested 45 minutes north of the city, you still have a good understanding of the process.

The pork tenderloin and poblano chili, two of the key ingredients used in the chilies en Nogada recipe from my previous post were purchased at Outpost. Some of their selections come from farms located just miles from the store.  Niman Ranch, while not located within Wisconsin is part of a group of over 725 family farmers and ranchers dedicated to sustainability and humane practices. Huen Family Farms is located in Illinois and is part of Niman Ranch and is one of the places Outpost gets its meat. While they are committed to more environmentally friendly pork, some waste is part of the process. As with all large farm animals the sheer volume of their excrement and the gasses associated with the farming causes a large amount of air pollution through greenhouse gases. These gases help to effect global climate change.  On the flip side, the manure can be used as a wonderful source to increase the nutrients within the soil. While farming for poblanos does not damage the earth as badly in regards to greenhouse gasses, there are often some repercussions from soil erosion and the impacts of over farming.

While Illinois is not too far away, it still will take a great deal of manpower and natural resources to get the pigs from the farm as living creatures to my plate as dinner. The chain of fossil fuels used could be as follows. The farmer uses electricity on his farm that is derived from a generator. He uses gas to power his vehicles. He delivers the hogs to a treatment facility that also uses electricity and gas to process the pigs. Then they are shipped to the grocery store that also uses electricity to operate, al up to the point where I cook the meal with natural gas. It sound much more expensive than 3.99 per pound. Just as with the direct costs of farming livestock, the effects on farming vegetables is less taxing on the earth, though one major increased cost is the cost of shipping produce into the Midwest, especially in the winter months since we do not have a climate conducive of growing 365 days a year.

While it is hard to be a consumer that is 100 percent connected to the chain of production of how their goods are produced and the effect that they have of the world, it is important that we make some sort of effort to learn about what we consume. As I have shown, even the items that seem to be better for the environment still can have a detrimental effect on the earth. By knowing how we are at risk gives us the power to make the bet choices possible to ensure the healthiest environment possible.   

Here is a video on the fight for sustainable farming.