Many people think that shipping vegetables and fruits from Central and South America is bad for the environment. Avocados have especially been called “the vegetable sinner of the environment”, because the popularity of the tropical fruit leads to a high demand and therefore more shipments. However, shipping goods around the world is actually one of the most environmentally friendly ways of distributing products – especially when you look at the climate footprint of an avocado and compare it to the climate footprint of different meats.
The “buy local products only” myth
Why do we think that it is environmentally wrong to purchase products that have been shipped from across the world? Because of the distance and the climate footprint of shipping. It must be wrong if we have to ship vegetables and fruits so far – why do we not just buy local vegetables and fruits?
If we are to only buy local products, we quickly end up purchasing products that are even more damaging to the environment than avocados and other products that have been shipped.
Actually, research has been conducted to investigate the climate footprint of an avocado compared to different kinds of meat. The average climate footprint of an avocado is 0,19 kilo CO2 equivalents and if you measure the footprint of the same amount of beef, the number lands on 4 kilos. Beef and other meats are considered to be products that are more local – but if you purchased those only because avocados have been shipped from across the world, you will actually end up making a bad deal for the environment after all.
The advantages of the shipping industry
Now we have concluded that avocados are not a bad thing for the environment – but how big is the impact of shipping? As mentioned before: Shipping is actually one of the better ways of transporting goods and products, as the climate footprint is lower – especially with use of FCL shipments.
FCL means “Full Container Load”, which is used when shipping avocados because of the popularity of the fruit. The climate footprint of a FCL shipment is lower, as the containers are full compared to LCL shipping, which means “Less than Container Load”. However, regardless of container use, shipping is still one of the most sustainable ways of transporting goods as ocean-going vessels only produce 3% of the world’s trade greenhouse-gas emissions.
So, as we could see in the section above, the production of avocados is fair to the environment. In addition to that, we have now learned that shipping is one of the most sustainable ways of distributing goods. In the end that means that the whole production and shipping of avocados is not bad at all. It was merely a myth or a reputation.
Shipping creates sustainable alternatives for the consumer
The fact that we are able to ship fruits and vegetables to Europe from different countries, makes it easier for the individual to make sustainable and environmentally friendly choices in the supermarket. Without being able to ship products, many would be forced to make other choices – choices that possibly are not as good for the environment. Shipping goods around the world has probably had more of a positive impact on the general climate footprint of food than many realize.
Shipping opens up doors that will benefit the environment and give people all over the world alternative food options – so they can participate in making sustainable choices. Not all transportation of goods solely has a negative impact on the environment.
Hopefully this article has helped you see and understand some of the dynamics that play a role when talking about sustainable solutions. There is no doubt that you can safely pick up avocados in the supermarket again – without feeling guilty.