1. On average, which of these popular produce options contains the most pesticides?
a) a head of iceberg lettuce
b) a peach
c) a stalk of celery
d) fresh strawberries
2. Do you know where your potatoes have been? How far did they have to travel to make an appearance on your dinner plate?
a) 3280 kms
b) 2540 kms
c) 1015 kms
d) 876 kms
3. Faster than a speeding bullet… which of these is the superhero all-purpose cleaner?
a) windex
b) rolled oats and cream
c) corn oil
d) baking soda
4. Everyone loves chocolate. So if you want to indulge your sweet tooth and give yourself a sugar high, which chocolate should you indulge in?
a) certified organic chocolate
b) a Mars bar
c) certified fair-trade chocolate
d) rainforest alliance-certified chocolate
5. Poultry’s not only made out of meat and feathers, you know. How much water is needed for one 300g chicken breast?
a) 1170 litres
b) 10 litres
c) 660 litres
d) 960 litres
6. You’re splurging on a restaurant meal because it’s a special occasion. That, or you’ve gotten way too chummy with the pizza delivery dude. You take a look through the menu - what’s the worst thing, environmentally-speaking?
a) veggie stir-fry
b) chocolate cake
c) salmon
d) a martini
1. b)
Peaches are the most pesticide-laden of the fruits and vegetables. Though, it should be noted that celery and strawberries also rack up the chemicals (they’re in the top 10). Always wash your produce thoroughly before eating it, or better yet, buy local and organic produce.
2. a)
Most potatoes found in Ontario’s grocery stores come from Idaho. That’s a whopping 3,280 kilometres to reach your store. Yikes! Do us all a favour and consider buying local potatoes next time. Save us from the fumes and emissions from all that truck travel.
3. d)
Yes, Windex may claim to be an all-purpose cleaner, but it smells awful and contains nasty chemicals and something highly unnatural that makes it that pretty blue shade. Choose baking soda as a natural cleaner for bathrooms, kitchens and even your precious pearls. Note: we are referring to your teeth, not grandma’s precious necklace.
4. d)
Okay, we admit, this is somewhat of a trick question. Besides your standard Mars bar, all of these options are good ones. Ecoholic states the following: Certified Organic chocolate is grown “without chemicals and with attention to water and soil conservation”, which is great. Certified Fair-Trade Chocolate ensures that the workers are paid a fair price and no child labour was involved in the process. Finally, Rainforest Alliance-Certified chocolate appears to be the most ethical option as it ensures that both no pesticides were used in the process, conservation efforts were in place and workers received a fair wage and good working conditions. This way, we can have our (chocolate) cake and eat it too!
5. a)
According to The Virtual Water Project, it takes 1170 litres of water to produce a 300 g breast of chicken. This takes into account how long a chicken spends on a chicken farm, how much each chicken eats, and how much water is necessary for drinking and barn cleaning purposes. Did you know we could feed the entire world with the grains we use to feed animals for human consumption? Try going vegetarian for a week and see how you feel.
6. c)
Did you know that it takes three kilograms of wild fish to grow one kilogram of farmed salmon? This wild fish is fed to the farmed salmon during production. Salmon flesh contains loads of dioxins and DDT, as well as artificial colouring to make it that pretty pink colour.
Tags: Do You Know What You’re Eating?
 |
 Save to del.icio.us |
 |
Share on Facebook |
On Tuesday the 12th of February, 2008 at 1:57 am, Andrew Poulsen said:
On Sunday the 6th of April, 2008 at 9:32 pm, June said:
Going vegan is the best diet for the planet. Thanks for pointing out how much water raising chicken requires, and how much fish farmed fish eat. The lower you can eat on the food chain the easier it is on the planet. I gave up all animal foods 7 years ago. I’m healthy and I’ve learned some cool recipes and I feel great about doing the best I can for the planet. The UN published a report recently showing that animals raised for food causes more global warming gases than all transportation sources combined. We need to face this fact and greatly reduce eating animal foods. It’s the most significant action any one person can take for the environment. Cats and dogs can be vegan too - try Vegepet and Evolution.
On Thursday the 16th of October, 2008 at 7:29 pm, S said:
bögar..
On Thursday the 16th of October, 2008 at 8:04 pm, June said:
Fish (such as “bycatch") is also fed to cattle, it’s added to their feed. Cattle eat more fish than all the seals in the world.
Sorry but fish eating really is bad for the environment. “Organic fish farming” means very little. Salmon are fed other fish, that’s what they mostly eat! And those fish that are fed to salmon ate other fish or smaller creatures or plants. Salmon are way high on the food chain. It’s gentler on the planet to eat low on the food chain and consume the plants directly, there’s far less waste. Also, farmed salmon are spreading sea lice.
Alcoholic beverages such as martinis may not be so good either, plus a new study shows even moderate drinking can shrink your brain, especially women’s brains. Weird. But if you do imbibe then there are local wines in Ontario, as well as mead and local beers. Or brew your own.
On Wednesday the 6th of May, 2009 at 11:21 am, Consuella B. said:
This quiz is great! lololol
On Thursday the 25th of March, 2010 at 4:45 am, david belleza said:
great quiz! i think i only got 1 correctly. silly me! kitchen countertop ideas
On Thursday the 25th of March, 2010 at 4:46 am, david belleza said:
great quiz! i think i only got 1 correctly. silly me! kitchen countertop ideas
On Monday the 31st of May, 2010 at 5:40 am, Wade said:
Great article, what ever you cook at home you are after all cooking for the family. Its up to you to take good care of the family’s health. Whether or not members of your family are having to deal with health problems like excess weight you should use natural sweetener.
Choose Agave nectar not just for great taste but better health too.
Articles on food production always catch my attention, and simple facts like this do twice as much. I agree that all the five first questions are straight forward and the answers are exactly spot on. However, as somebody who actually prepares food in a fine dining restaurant, I am always a little surprised when people start bashing on salmon. I agree that in many cases exactly what you’re saying is true. Salmon often are filled with pigment to brighten the colour, but I don’t think that it’s necessarily true that salmon are the worst thing in the world, in fact, many martinis are actually much worse even in the category of artificial pigments, plus usually martinis are not made with 100% organic, sustainable, or fair trade resources. Salmon has also made significent improvements in quality and sustainable growing methods. Actually, some Irish farms have even gone as far as becoming certified organic salmon farms. Ummera (a producer of irish smoked salmon) is one of those farms. They even are open about all of their farming methods, and allow their fish to swim around freely within a pen in the atlantic. Now, with that said, the biggest, and most consistent problem with salmon is travel, salmon (especially quality salmon) usually comes from either Ireland, or British Columbia, meaning that people in Ontario who want to eat salmon are leaving a huge carbon footprint.