Process Your Own Food
Mother Earth News did an article on this very subject sometime this year - will get the link and post it here. August/September 2007
I was amazed at the numbers I found - first, I didn't think the numbers existed. And for current production, they don't fully. BUT, Household technology has probably outpaced manufacturers, so the numbers are probably even better than what I found.
So, not only are you doing the Earth a favor by buying locally and processing your own foods, you also get MUCH better flavor, the sugar and salt content is controlled by YOU and there's little need for recycling anything such as labels, cans, jars, bottles, plastic wrapping, etc.
This will most likely seem more than a little disjointed, and I may come back to fix it, but if I don't, just follow the links. I think you'll be able to extrapolate the general savings...
Graphs showing current energy used by U.S. ONLY food processing plants.
This does not include transport of food stuff to and from the plants - another major factor for buying locally...
Key paragraphs pulled from article :
Energy requirements for commercial canning of tomatoes, fruits and vegetables in 1974 were calculated at about 1,600, 1,800 and 2,150 Btu per pound of fresh weight, respectively. Vegetables require longer processing than fruit and tomatoes to assure sterilization, and the longer food must be processed, the more energy is required.
However, for canning 7 quarts of tomatoes by the water bath method, 2.43 kWh of electrical energy were estimated by one source to be needed to bring the water bath and jars of food to a boil and to process them for 45 minutes. The energy input for this part of the canning job would amount to about 545 Btu per pound of canned tomatoes
Average energy consumption for food freezer operation per day — disregarding size, type and other factors — is reported to be about 3.3 kWh in cold months and 4.1 kWh in warm months. If a family kept 100 pounds of frozen food in the freezer on the average, the energy cost would amount to about 102 to 130 Btu per day per pound. The longer a package of food is held in the freezer, the higher would be the energy cost for its storage.
A book regarding this subject: Eating Fossil Fuels_, Dale Pfeiffer
Energy consumed in growing foods commercially:
Growing Practices
The biggest culprit of fossil fuel usage in industrial farming is not transporting food or fueling machinery; it’s chemicals. As much as forty percent of energy used in the food system goes towards the production of artificial fertilizers and pesticides. xii Fertilizers are synthesized from atmospheric nitrogen and natural gas, a process that takes a significant amount of energy. Producing and distributing them requires an average of 5.5 gallons of fossil fuels per acre. xiii
I was amazed at the numbers I found - first, I didn't think the numbers existed. And for current production, they don't fully. BUT, Household technology has probably outpaced manufacturers, so the numbers are probably even better than what I found.
So, not only are you doing the Earth a favor by buying locally and processing your own foods, you also get MUCH better flavor, the sugar and salt content is controlled by YOU and there's little need for recycling anything such as labels, cans, jars, bottles, plastic wrapping, etc.
This will most likely seem more than a little disjointed, and I may come back to fix it, but if I don't, just follow the links. I think you'll be able to extrapolate the general savings...
Graphs showing current energy used by U.S. ONLY food processing plants.
This does not include transport of food stuff to and from the plants - another major factor for buying locally...
Key paragraphs pulled from article :
Energy requirements for commercial canning of tomatoes, fruits and vegetables in 1974 were calculated at about 1,600, 1,800 and 2,150 Btu per pound of fresh weight, respectively. Vegetables require longer processing than fruit and tomatoes to assure sterilization, and the longer food must be processed, the more energy is required.
However, for canning 7 quarts of tomatoes by the water bath method, 2.43 kWh of electrical energy were estimated by one source to be needed to bring the water bath and jars of food to a boil and to process them for 45 minutes. The energy input for this part of the canning job would amount to about 545 Btu per pound of canned tomatoes
Average energy consumption for food freezer operation per day — disregarding size, type and other factors — is reported to be about 3.3 kWh in cold months and 4.1 kWh in warm months. If a family kept 100 pounds of frozen food in the freezer on the average, the energy cost would amount to about 102 to 130 Btu per day per pound. The longer a package of food is held in the freezer, the higher would be the energy cost for its storage.
A book regarding this subject: Eating Fossil Fuels_, Dale Pfeiffer
Energy consumed in growing foods commercially:
Growing Practices
The biggest culprit of fossil fuel usage in industrial farming is not transporting food or fueling machinery; it’s chemicals. As much as forty percent of energy used in the food system goes towards the production of artificial fertilizers and pesticides. xii Fertilizers are synthesized from atmospheric nitrogen and natural gas, a process that takes a significant amount of energy. Producing and distributing them requires an average of 5.5 gallons of fossil fuels per acre. xiii
Labels: article, energy conservation, food preserving, mother earth news
posted by Leslie at
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