Organic vegetables are considered to be environmentally friendly and healthy – but a large part of offer in German retail trade comes from Andalusia, wobeispielsweise biotomatoes and cucumbers under plastic foils angebautund so laboriously bewässertwerden that groundwater level decreases And drinking water is salted. How ecologically can this still be? Among or things, WolfgangBokelmann explores such questions. He is professor of DieÖkonomie of horticultural production at Humboldt-Universität Berlin, specializing in sustainability topics and member of Scientific Advisory Board for Agricultural policy, Nutrition and consumer health protection DesLandwirtschaftsministeriums.
Online Time: Mr. Bokelmann, what vegetables should I buy if I want to cover meinenBedarf as environmentally friendly as possible?
WolfgangBokelmann: Basically, Germans eat far too few vegetables. Therefore, every vegetable you buy in addition is good at first, regardless of its origin. It is healthier and also environmentally friendly alstierische foods, because cultivation of plants consumes much less natürlicheRessourcen than for example production of meat.
Online Time: How much less? Can you quantify that?
Bokelmann: Fürjede calorie, which we take from chicken to us, chicken has previously consumed two herbal calories, according to agricultural record. For pork, milk and eggs, ratio is one to three calories; For beef even by one to seven.
Eating dairy products, eggs and meat is refore, from point of view of resource consumption, strictly waste. The only exception is when feed of animals comes vonFlächen, which cannot be used for arable farming. Then Könnentierische food is very likely to be a resource-efficient supplement to zurpflanzlichen diet.
Groundwater in Rhineland-Palatinate is heavily contaminated by fertilizers in some places.Online Time: To vegetable cultivation can be harmful to environment if it is polluted by groundwater, as in Andalusia, when InGewächshäusern energy is wasted, plastic waste is produced or vielePestizide in use.
Bokelmann: DasRisiko that such problems arise is always particularly great when dieProduktion is concentrated in a spatial way – as in Andalusia. This is also case in Germany, for example in Rhineland-Palatinate with regard to groundwater pollution.
Online Time: Wasgenau is problematic in Rhineland-Palatinate?
Bokelmann: Mild climate, vegetable season in Rhineland-Palatinate begins early elsewhere in Germany. Asparagus, salads, radishes, carrots, cabbage, Kürbisseund Many or types of vegetables are grown re on large areas. This is an advantage because supply season is extended. It leads to to fact that groundwater in some places in region is heavily polluted by fertilizers.
Online Time: But it is still good if I can buy vegetable from Germany relatively early in year and not have to avoid carrots, salads or cucumbers that are transported over long distances – at least this verursacheich not quite as much energy consumption.
You would need to create an LCA for each product.Bokelmann: If you wanted to know exactly, you would have to Ökobilanzerstellen for each product – for example, for all tomatoes that come from a bestimmtenGewächshaus in Andalusia, or for asparagus harvest of a specific field in Rhineland-Palatinate. They would have to include energy, water, fertilizer undPestizide, which are consumed until harvest; In addition, DasBenzin for transport, energy for storage and cooling, emission greenhouse gas, rubbish through plastic films, under tomatoes and asparagus grow, type of waste disposal. And we haven't even talked about working conditions on DenFeldern.
Online Time: This is is completely illusory. No consumer can afford it.
Bokelmann: Yes, but orwise you cannot even judge which of – for example – tomatoes that lie in front of you on supermarket shelf has been produced most sustainable. A tomato from Marokkoetwa can be produced in winter with much less energy than eineTomate in Germany. There, it has sufficient light undWärme whole year, here farms must usually surrender both. Perhaps better information or state Labelhier could help.
Online Time: Dafürbraucht transport of Moroccan tomato here again a lot of energy.
Date Of Update: 04 May 2018, 12:02
