One of the elements of globalization has been the disappearance of borders in terms of goods and services. This is most easily observed in with food. This paper will explore some of the benefits and disadvantages of our increasingly borderless society by analyzing its impacts on one meal The meal that will form the basis of analysis consisted of pork ribs, lotus root, broccoli, rice, and “Tieguanyin” tea. The lotus root, rice, pork ribs and tea were purchased at a local grocery store. The other items, namely, the broccoli and green beans were purchased at a local farmer’s market
The majority of pork that we eat is produced on one of the nation’s nearly 70,000 family-owned pig farms (WCI, 2016). The farms, which may or may not be local, raise the pigs from birth until they reach a particular market weight and age. They are then sold either to: (1) a meat processing company that processes the pig and sells them to an end-user, or (2) the grocery story that processes the pork on its own. Lotus root is a vegetable imported from China. The lotus root is planted and harvested by farmers and sold either directly to the public or to a food conglomerate (AULP, n.d.). In this case the lotus root was most likely sold to a food conglomerate in China, and then sold it in bulk to the local grocery store where I purchased it. The broccoli and green beans were purchased from the local farmer’s market. The seller was the same farmer that actually grew and harvested the vegetables. The farm where they were harvested is located within a few hours driving distance from where I purchased them (Read, 2014). After harvesting them, the farmer loaded them onto his truck and drove to the market where he sold them directly to the public. The rice was a type known as “Calrose” rice. Calrose rice is grown in California. Most Calrose rice is grown on family-owned rice farms. Once the rice is harvested it is sold to directly to the public, to rice processors, or two stores. The rice that I bought was Sun Luck Inc.’s “Niko Niko Calrose Rice”. Sun Luck is a food processor that bought the rice from the farmers, packaged it and sold it to the local grocery store. “Tieguanyin” is a specific type of Oolong tea that is produced on in China and Taiwan (Twinings, 2016). The tea is grown and harvested by large tea conglomerates that then sell the tea to the end-user. The local grocery store bought it from a tea importer that bought it from original tea conglomerate in China.
Pig farming is generally done indoors in large buildings where the farmer has the ability to control the environment, the eating schedules, and the living conditions of the pigs (WCI, 2016). Pig farming naturally will impact the environment in a number of ways, including water, land use, air quality, and animal manure management. Failure to adequately manage these areas can result in negative impacts. Much of pig farming is automated so, the impact on farmers is less visible. Lotus root is an aquatic plant that is raised in large ponds. Once the root is mature, farmers fetch up the root out of the water, separate it from the plant and then gather them together in a container (AULP, n.d.). The environmental impact is also significant because lotus roots need large bodies of water in which to grow. Broccoli and green beans can be planted and grown in a wide variety of circumstances ranging from a farmer’s personal plot to large communal fields. They can also be harvested by a person or machine. Rice is grown by planting the seed in the dirt, then flood the field with water. In California, the seeds are normally spread by airplanes flying over the fields (Alpers, 2014). Once the plants are mature, specialized harvesters collect the plant. Collected plants are dried and then processed at a mill that removes the rice grain from the rest of the plant (Alpers, 2014). The environmental impacts of rice planting can be significant considering the land, water, fuel (for the airplanes and harvesters), air quality, and energy (for the mill) that is necessary to produce it. Lastly, the tea is grown in vast fields located, depending on the type of tea, in specific parts of China (Twinings, 2016). The tea leaves are hand-picked by farmers. Oolong tea is semi-cooked, so once the tea leaves are picked and dried, they are roasted for a set period of time. The environmental and personal impacts of tea farming are significant considering the amount of land, resources, and energy necessary for their production. In addition, the work of picking and setting out the leaves to dry is quite strenuous on the farmers.
The economic advantages of buying the locally produced broccoli and green beans are that they help to fund the local economy (Read, 2014). Additionally, a cost savings can be enjoyed in the simplified transportation of going directly from the market to my dinner table. The economic disadvantage of local buying is that I personally had to pay a higher price for the local product than if I bought the same product at the grocery store. The ecological advantages of buying locally are the reduced use of resources necessary to produce, process, and ship an item, such as the lotus root and tea (NRDC, 2010). Conversely, the disadvantage is the uses of the land in the middle of a city necessary to hold a farmer’s market, such as increased vehicle and people traffic and the necessary congestion. My meal, in my opinion, reflects the good and bad points of thinking globally, and buying locally (Read, 2014). On the one hand, buying the broccoli and green beans from the farmer’s market is the perfect illustration of the ideas underlying the phrase. This would also be true of the pork ribs, if the pigs were produced by a local pig farm. I could have gone to a local butcher shop, which most likely purchased their pigs from a local farmer. With the rice, although it was from California, I could have substituted it for a rice type that is locally produced. In other words, I did not have to buy Calrose rice. As for the lotus root, and tea, however, this is not the case. There is no local substitute for lotus root or that specific type of tea. In fact, tea is only produced in some areas of the world, and those areas do not include the U.S. On the other hand, I could have substituted a similar vegetable, such as potato, for the lotus root and other beverage such as water, instead of tea.
References
Alpers, M. (2014). Rice 101. Retrieved from http://californiabountiful.com/features/article.aspx?arID=1441
Auburn University Lotus Project (AULP). (n.d.). Lotus of China. Retrieved from http://www.ag.auburn.edu/landscape/LOTUS_book_excerpt.html
National Resources Defense Council (NRDC). (2010). Eat green: Our everyday food choices affect global warning and the environment. Retrieved from https://www.nrdc.org/sites/default/files/eatgreenfs_feb2010.pdf
Twinings. (2016). Tie guan yin Oolong. Retrieved from https://www.twinings.co.uk/tea-club/tie-guan-yin-oolong
We Care Initiative (WCI). (2016). Modern pig farming overview. Retrieved from http://www.porkcares.org/our-practices/todays-pig-farming/modern-pig-farming-overview/
