If you ever need a reason to justify why you grow veggies or how much time you spend growing veggies or maybe even something to inspire you to get started on growing veggies then this might help.
Pouring oil into refrigerators
Former Deputy Prime Minister John Anderson once said: "We're pouring as much oil into refrigerators as we are into our cars". This sounds an odd thing to say, but he's right. Our industrialised food system requires the equivalent of 8 barrels of oil to feed each Australian every year, while our personal transport accounts for 4.5 barrels. So, the store-bought food we buy requires nearly twice as much oil as our cars.
This also squares with an Australian Conservation Foundation study, which found that food consumption is responsible for 28% of the average Australian's greenhouse gas pollution, whereas personal and public transport accounts for only 10.5%. So, growing even some of our own food can make as great a contribution to reducing our carbon footprint as buying a bicycle.
Until next month, happy organic gardening to you all.
Warwick
