TABLE OF CONTENTS Video Summary Related Content Video
TABLE OF CONTENTS Video Summary & Related Content Video Review Before Viewing While Viewing Talk Prompts After Viewing The Story Activity #1: Examining Diverse Points of View Activity #2: Measuring your “Food Footprint” Sources 3 4 5 5 7 10 12 16 18 20 CREDITS News in Review is produced by CBC NEWS and curio. ca GUIDE Writer: Jennifer Watt Editor: Sean Dolan VIDEO Host: Michael Serapio Senior Producer: Jordanna Lake Packaging Producer: Marie-Hélène Savard Associate Producer: Francine Laprotte Supervising Manager: Laraine Bone Visit www. curio. ca/newsinreview for an archive of all previous News In Review seasons. As a companion resource, go to www. cbc. ca/news for additional articles. CBC authorizes reproduction of material contained in this guide for educational purposes. Please identify source. News In Review is distributed by: curio. ca | CBC Media Solutions © 2019 Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
FOOD'S CARBON FOOTPRINT: Creating Sustainable Sources Video duration – 19: 13 The food we eat is under threat. There's less arable land more people to feed than ever before. Add to that the fact that everything we produce leaves a carbon footprint. Greenhouse gases are created in the way we grow, harvest, ship, store, package, cook and dispose of the food we eat. So how do we make our food safe and sustainable yet reduce our carbon footprint — or foodprint? This story looks at various innovative concepts people are using to produce and dispose of food while reducing the carbon consequences. Related Content on curio. ca • • • Carbon Hunters Carbon tax: What effect has it had on B. C. ? Coffee Cups: Do the coffee giants really recycle? Food waste: What some supermarkets throw out Forever Plastic How some online shopping habits are terrible for the environment How the new carbon plan works Suzuki Diaries 3: Future City Wasted! The Story of Food Waste What a Waste (CBC Radio, 10 -part series) curio. ca/newsinreview /3
VIDEO REVIEW curio. ca/newsinreview /4
BEFORE VIEWING What you choose to eat impacts the environment. Which of your favourite foods do you think has the biggest impact on your “carbon footprint? ” Why? WHILE VIEWING 1. According to the carbon footprint study, what common sandwiches should you avoid? ❑ a) Ham and cheese ❑ c) Breakfast sandwiches (egg with bacon, ham or sausage) ❑ b) Tuna ❑ d) Both a and c 2. Tomatoes grown in greenhouses have a greater carbon footprint that those grown in open fields. ❑ TRUE or ❑ FALSE Food's Carbon Footprint: Creating Sustainable Sources curio. ca/newsinreview /5
3. Which food container has the smallest carbon footprint? ❑ a) Styrofoam ❑ b) Glass ❑ c) Plastic ❑ d) Paper 4. What is the financial value of wasted food sent to landfill sites in Canada each year? ❑ a) $50 million ❑ c) $3 million ❑ b) $31 billion ❑ d) $31 million 5. There is an app that allows people to share their food. ❑ TRUE or ❑ FALSE 6. Urban vertical farming can grow more nutritious lettuce. ❑ TRUE or ❑ FALSE 7. What is one of the newest sustainable ingredients used for poultry feed and pet food? ❑ a) Larvae ❑ b) Kale ❑ c) Caterpillars Food's Carbon Footprint: Creating Sustainable Sources curio. ca/newsinreview /6
TALK PROMPTS curio. ca/newsinreview /7
TALK PROMPT #1 Consider pausing the video and giving students the opportunity to talk to an elbow partner for a few minutes or use these questions as part of a class discussion. Pause the video after Dianne Buckner’s interview with chef Jagger Gordon, @ 09: 34 1. What do you think of a “pay what you can” grocery store filled with “rescued” food? 2. What attitudes and beliefs have you been exposed to about wasting food? 3. How is “rescuing” food a “first world” problem? Food's Carbon Footprint: Creating Sustainable Sources curio. ca/newsinreview /8
TALK PROMPT #2 Pause the video after the interview with Victoria Leung, VP of Operations for Enterra Feed Corporation, @ 16: 33 ● Would you eat bugs as part of your diet? Why or why not? Food's Carbon Footprint: Creating Sustainable Sources curio. ca/newsinreview /9
AFTER VIEWING What is one change you are willing to make to your eating habits to reduce your carbon footprint? Burps account for 90 to 95 percent of the methane released by cows, while 5 to 10 percent is released in the form of manure and farts. According to the United Nations, livestock — including cows, pigs and sheep — are responsible for about 14. 5 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions. Cows are the primary offenders with each animal releasing an average of 30 to 50 gallons of methane a day. With an estimated 1. 5 billion cows on the planet, that’s a lot of methane! Food's Carbon Footprint: Creating Sustainable Sources curio. ca/newsinreview / 10
. . . the great thing is every city can now be in competition for who is saving how much food from the landfills and how much food is actually going back to people in need. – Jagger Gordon, Chef
THE STORY Carbon footprint We inhabit a beautiful planet and, if we want to protect it, we have to change our behaviours and habits, including what we eat. Scientists are using the term carbon footprint as a metaphor to describe the amount of greenhouse gases produced by human activity. It may seem obvious to you that walking has a lower carbon footprint than driving and that flying in an airplane has a higher carbon footprint than driving, but what about your food choices? What’s better for our planet: selecting a banana or an apple for a snack? How about a mango smoothie or a green tea latte? What about a vegetarian burger or a chicken burger? Food's Carbon Footprint: Creating Sustainable Sources Measuring your footprint Let’s take a look at humanmade greenhouse gases and why calculating a specific carbon footprint can be challenging. curio. ca/newsinreview / 12
The dominant human-made greenhouse gas is carbon dioxide (CO 2). There are others such as methane (CH 4) which is 25 times more potent per kilogram than CO 2. Even more potent, but emitted in smaller quantities, is nitrous oxide (N 2 O), which is about 300 times more potent per kilogram than CO 2. Carbon dioxide is emitted when we burn fossil fuels in homes, factories or power stations. Methane is emitted mainly by livestock raised in the agriculture industry and the landfill sites where we send our garbage. Nitrous Oxide is released from industrial processes, farming and refrigerant gases. Given that a single item such as an apple or an activity such as making apple juice can cause multiple, different greenhouse gas emissions, each in different quantities, a carbon footprint is not written out in full since it would be very confusing. The simpler Food's Carbon Footprint: Creating Sustainable Sources convention is to express a carbon footprint in terms of CO 2 equivalent (CO 2 e). This unit of measurement explains the total climate change impact of all the greenhouse gases caused by an item or activity rolled into one and is expressed in terms of the amount of carbon dioxide that would have the same impact. Food choices Let’s return to the question of food choices. The carbon footprint of food is calculated curio. ca/newsinreview / 13
by considering the greenhouse gas emissions produced by growing, rearing, farming, processing, transporting, storing, cooking and disposing of the food we eat. So, figuring out the carbon footprint of a banana or an apple would include all of these factors. It would also include any packaging used. each banana represents about 80 grams of CO 2, which he considers “carbon cheap. ” What makes banana’s carbon cheap? They are grown in natural sunlight not in greenhouses. They keep well and they are transported to market by boats, not planes. They also warrant hardly any packaging. According to calculations done by Mike Berners-Lee, author of How Bad Are Bananas? The Carbon Footprint of Everything, Put plainly: a carbon footprint for food is not intuitive (you might think a banana was very carbon high due to the Food's Carbon Footprint: Creating Sustainable Sources distance it is grown from Canada). This is why many environmentalists are calling for a standardized system of carbon labeling on food packaging. It is very difficult for you to make decisions about what you buy if you don’t know the carbon footprint of certain foods. curio. ca/newsinreview / 14
TO CONSIDER FOLLOW UP 1. How is a carbon footprint calculated? Take action by sending an email to your local MP or MPP asking for legislation that would call on food manufacturers to: 2. Why is it challenging to determine the carbon footprint of one food item? 3. Think about the food choices that you typically make. Research the carbon footprint calculation of your food choices. Was this calculation easy or difficult to make? ● ● Address another issue regarding food and the environment that you feel is important. Indicate their carbon footprint on foods – OR – ● Restrict excessive food packaging – OR – Food's Carbon Footprint: Creating Sustainable Sources curio. ca/newsinreview / 15
ACTIVITY #1: Examining Diverse Points of View In a group of five (5), examine how dietary lifestyles impact the environment. Assign one person to each article. Each group member will answer the questions on the following page, based on the information in their article, and then share their answers with the group. The Articles Bad News: Eating local, organic won’t shrink your carbon footprint www. cbc. ca/news/technology/local-organic-carbon-footprint-1. 4389910 Why Avoiding Meat and Dairy Won’t Save the Planet https: //climateandcapitalism. com/2018/06/26/why-avoiding-meat-and-dairy-wont-save-the-planet/ The Planet is Screwed and Vegan Food May be Our Last Hope www. livekindly. co/the-planet-is-screwed-and-vegan-food-may-be-our-last-hope/ Cutting Out Meat will Reduce Your Carbon Footprint www. vegsoc. org/reducecarbon The Carbon Footprint of 5 Diets Compared http: //shrinkthatfootprint. com/food-carbon-footprint-diet Food's Carbon Footprint: Creating Sustainable Sources curio. ca/newsinreview / 16
The Questions 1. Is this a news article, a blog, or information provided by a company? What difference does this make? 2. Who wrote this article? What difference does this make? 3. What are the main arguments presented? 4. What facts are presented to back up the arguments? 5. How convinced are you by the arguments made in the article? Why? 6. What other questions do you have on this topic? Food's Carbon Footprint: Creating Sustainable Sources curio. ca/newsinreview / 17
ACTIVITY #2: Rethinking Your “Food Footprint” The activities listed are intended to draw attention to your food habits and how they impact the environment. Choose one of the activities and answer the questions below. Be prepared to share the results of your inquiry. ? Activity choices 1. Take a picture of all of the food packaging that you use over the course of one week. 2. Take a picture of all of the food waste you produce over the course of one week. 3. Keep a journal of everything you eat for a week. Choose one item to determine its carbon footprint. 4. Learn how to make four vegetarian dishes. Share one of the dishes with a friend. Share the recipes with your class. 5. Do not use plastic bags, straws and utensils for one week. Write a 250 -500 word reflection on how difficult or easy this was to do. Food's Carbon Footprint: Creating Sustainable Sources curio. ca/newsinreview / 18
6. Do not buy or consume any beverage in a plastic bottle for a week. Write a 250 -500 word reflection on how difficult or easy this was to do. 7. Introduce a new raw fruit or vegetable into your diet for a week. Write a 250 -500 word reflection on how difficult or easy this was to do. 8. Think of your own activity. Just make sure it runs of a week and you can provide a written or visual description of what you did. Questions i. Why did you choose the activity you selected? ii. What were the results of your participation in the activity you selected? iii. How did you feel when completing the activity? iv. What were you surprised to learn? v. How could you spread your new knowledge to more people? Food's Carbon Footprint: Creating Sustainable Sources curio. ca/newsinreview / 19
SOURCES Berners-Lee Mike. (2010) How Bad are Bananas? The Carbon Footprint of Everything. Profile Books. Berners-Lee, Mike and Duncan Clark. (June 4, 2010). What is a carbon footprint? Retrieved from: www. theguardian. com/environment/blog/2010/jun/04/carbon-footprint-definition Chung, Emily. (November 7, 2017). Bad News: Eating local, organic won’t shrink your carbon footprint. CBC News. Retrieved from: www. cbc. ca/news/technology/local-organic-carbon-footprint-1. 4389910 The Vegetarian Society. Cutting out meat will reduce your carbon footprint. Retrieved from: www. vegsoc. org/reducecarbon Wilson, Lindsay. (2015). The Carbon Footprint of 5 Diets Compared. Shrink That Footprint. Retrieved from: http: //shrinkthatfootprint. com/food-carbon-footprint-diet Young, Richard. (June 6, 2018). Why avoiding meat and dairy won’t save the planet. Climate and Capitalism. Retrieved from: https: //climateandcapitalism. com/2018/06/26/why-avoiding-meat-and-dairy-wont-save-the-planet/ Zacharias, Nill. (May 24, 2018). The planet is screwed and vegan food may be our last hope. Live Kindly. Retrieved from: www. livekindly. co/the-planet-is-screwed-and-vegan-food-may-be-our-last-hope/ Food's Carbon Footprint: Creating Sustainable Sources curio. ca/newsinreview / 20
- Slides: 20