Well, not just bananas.

I've been thinking recently about 'food miles', and as someone following a vegan diet who lives in Ireland, a lot of my food probably has to travel quite a way to get here.

Bananas, avocados, rice, most vegetables, a lot of fruit, pulses etc. are probably not grown in Ireland.

So, from a purely environmental standpoint, do you reckon it's more environmentally sound to eat, say, an avocado sandwich or a cheese one, bearing in mind the cheese could be produced in Ireland while the avocado has to come from (not sure if avocados are grown in Europe, so say the US or South America)? What about if you compare organic cheese to non-organic avocados?

This post hasn't been thought through terribly well, so I apologise for that, I was just thinking about this and wanted to get some ideas from others.

Thanks!

Bananas are horribly evil. There are few products where the workers are exploited to such a degree.

I couldn't believe my eyes when about a year ago, I saw a programme on TV about the exploitation of the banana workers. Blood-bananas, they are. I was horrified. I was not the only one.

Fortunately, the managing director of one of the biggest food chain-shops in Switzerland also saw the programme and since then, they only sell free-trade bananas.

And other big food shops are following suit. Soon I think we will have no more blood-bananas for sale anymore here as people do not want to buy them anymore.

This web-site takes a long time to read, but it's really excellent:

http://www.bananalink.org.uk/index.htm

I try to buy fair trade bananas and coffee when I can afford it. But I suppose I should only have them when I can afford them (in their fair trade incarnation) in that case.

Let's be fair to the Banana, the banana is good
people exploiting people for money that's bad

fair trade bananas? I've never heard of such a concept!
Hmmm...this requires more research...
Thanks for the link Diana!

So, from a purely environmental standpoint, do you reckon it's more environmentally sound to eat, say, an avocado sandwich or a cheese one, bearing in mind the cheese could be produced in Ireland while the avocado has to come from (not sure if avocados are grown in Europe, so say the US or South America)? What about if you compare organic cheese to non-organic avocados?


From a purely environmental standpoint, carefully sourced organic cheese is likely a more environmentally sound choice than US/South American imported avocados/bananas.

But of course then there's the AR and health standpoints... ;)

My boyfriend loves bananas! Eek!

I never knew about this.

i knew i always hated bananas for a reason :devil:

Non all banana-workers are exploited. I only buy bananas grown in my home country, which is good for the "food miles" part as well.

Are organic bananas always fair trade?

It's no different than going to any (insert retail store here) and buying things that are made in a sweatshop or made by workers in harsh conditions earning only about a couple of dollars a day.

I try not to overdo it with bananas, but whenever I happen to buy some they're always always always organic, I wouldn't dare touch conventional produce. But besides the obvious health factors, I'd say that's more of a mentality issue.

bananas grow all over the place here. I have a friend who has a 70 acre banana farm called "Isle of You". Bananas are not evil when you live in Hawaii... :cool: :pibo: :hulasmilie:

I ate bananas yesterday, I ate a banana today. I will eat a banana tomorrow. :vebo:

I eat a banana every day in my smoothie. Always organic, for the obvious reasons.

My mother nearly always but fair-trade bananas (Max Havelaar), which fortunately have become widely available here.

Of course, what's taken into account here is the workers' conditions. The environmental aspect of bringing bananas from, say, Costa Rica to where I live, Norway, is of course quite a different matter - and the fact that the bananas are fair-trade unfortunately doesn't change anything about that. :-/

I usually eat 3 to 4 organic bananas a day.

I love bananas. They are my favorite fruit. :)

Are organic bananas always fair trade?


I don't think they are. :( Dole has organic bananas and it sounds like they are one of the worst companies.

Dole has organic bananas and it sounds like they are one of the worst companies.

Dole is disgusting. They should change their name to "Disgusting Dole".

Never ever ever buy a Dole banana.

*Going off to make little stickers with "Disgusting Dole" written on them.*

I think DOLE SUCKS is correct more than likely. I recall vaguely a time (and now too probably) an example of their lack of moral standards or something but don't remember quite what clued me up about their bad. Just sour deed practice I guess and $$ profiteering commericalists is all they are I figure :rolleyes:

From a purely environmental standpoint, carefully sourced organic cheese is likely a more environmentally sound choice than US/South American imported avocados/bananas.

But of course then there's the AR and health standpoints... ;)

Yup, that's what I was thinking (this thread kinda got away from the point!)

It just seems like a lot of the foods I eat _are_ imported - bananas, oranges, avocados, (most 'nice' fruit and veg, really), beans, rice etc.

I do try to eat locally produced organic foods when I can, but both price and availability mean that this is not always feasible.

Ah well, I suppose we can only do what we can.

So, from a purely environmental standpoint, do you reckon it's more environmentally sound to eat, say, an avocado sandwich or a cheese one, bearing in mind the cheese could be produced in Ireland while the avocado has to come from (not sure if avocados are grown in Europe, so say the US or South America)?
I've never really thought about it that way. :( I want my own green house. :cry:

Something tells me all methods of transporting tropical produce involves oil. :(

I've never really thought about it that way. :( I want my own green house. :cry:

Something tells me all methods of transporting tropical produce involves oil. :(

Naw, just a bike that can handle the whole ocean thing. :sunny:

And I second the green house desire.:D

Meatless, many of the produce sold in continental Europe is from Spain or someitmes Turkey, including Avocadoes. Maybe it's the same in ireland? I know that it's still far away, but at least not quite as far. Although the Spanish do have a rep for being on the high end of the use of pesticides as compared to other European countries.
And don't write off Ireland so fast on the production side. I'd do some research first. Even here in Austria where it also gets quite cold, a whole lot of produce is grown locally. But there are some things like coffee and bananas that they'll never grow. So I buy them organic and fair trade. Always.