AS a child growing up in India, it was garden-to-table food. In Kuwait in the 50’s and 60’s, I ate fruits and vegetables as per the seasons, bought at the markets and grocery stores. Gradually ‘progress’ and ‘modernisation’ took over. Today I stand in supermarkets in the UAE amazed at the variety, the choice, the prices, and most important, the places of origins of these perishable ‘fresh’ produce.
In the UAE, we’re used to buying/eating what we want, whenever we want it. But have you stopped to think about the fresh fruits and vegetables you buy at your supermarket, the country of origin, distances, impact on our environment? When food is shipped across the world, pollution (especially CO2) rise along with transportation costs.
It’s wonderful to be able enjoy avocados from Spain, kiwis New Zealand or bananas from Ecuador. We’ve grown so used to eating a variety of products from all over the world that we don’t stop to think, or care where our food, fruits, vegetables, meats, come from and what this means for our planet.
Huge price to pay
Here are some stats – distance between the United Arab Emirates by air of countries that export fruits/vegetables for us – New Zealand 14,209 km; Ecuador 14,313 km; Costa Rica 14,172 km; United States 12,561 km; Philippines 7,07 2 km; Madagascar 4,949 km and the list goes on. This is a huge price to pay to satisfy our taste buds as we enjoy our favourite fruit/vegetable 365 days of the year.
Heaven forbid if we can’t have freshly squeezed pineapple or any juice, freshly sliced papaya or avocado because that’s what the plethora of health/fitness/nutritionist on social media tell us! Do you know the main contributors to the carbon footprint? Production of electricity and transportation, both needed to bring and keep fresh, fruits and vegetables to reach you and me, the consumer! Greenhouse gases and other pollutants like CO2 (carbon dioxide) and CO (carbon mono oxide) as a result of activities like transportation and production result in decrease in the Air Quality Index, indicating a decreased level of oxygen in the air! Air freight is the most expensive and, according to experts, aircraft create 44 times more carbon dioxide than ships when carrying the same cargo over distance. Greenhouse gasses emitted when using planes are much higher.
Sustainable farm tech
Fortunately, here in the UAE we now have options to continue enjoying our favourite fruits and vegetables grown locally. The leadership in the UAE has focused on, and made tremendous efforts, over the last decade by adopting sustainable and smart agriculture techniques, which have helped improve the optimum utilisation of arable land and the quality of local fresh produce.
Investments in hydroponic systems, particularly, in vertical farming and soilless cultivation methods are growing at steady pace. Initiatives to increase local production of fruits and vegetables are anticipated to provide a positive supply to the market in the coming years. UAE’s leadership efforts are focused on self-reliance self-sufficiency and reducing the carbon footprint. This has a huge positive impact on the freshness quotient, eliminates need to carry inventory, and results in less waste due to reduced travel time temperature variation.
Supporting local farmers, whether through informal markets, online popup shops or food-delivery schemes, creates far more wholesome and healthy choices. Whether direct contact with local farmers or connect through a box scheme, informal market, or virtually by visiting a farm’s website, online shopping portal or, social media page, we can start knowing where our food comes from. For the lazy, not a bad thing! We can cut out the supermarket and order online from the producers themselves.
We Indians, the largest expat community in the UAE, love our veggies and fruits. Let’s lead by example. Say cheers to good health – ‘Buy Local, Save Global’.
