Human Geography - How far does food travel - Assignment Example

You will go to the grocery store and select ten (10) food items that you normally purchase. These can be raw foods or processed foods. If you are a restaurant eater, then pick the ingredients from your favorite dishes. YOU DO NOT NEED TO PURCHASE THE FOOD. You should take notes in the grocery store. Feel free to use the internet to flesh out information. Document the store (stores, farmers markets) you went to, the item type, brand and location from where it came from. If you eat an item that has ingredients from multiple locations and it is marked on the item, make sure you document all the locations.

If you want to make an assumption (i.e. the yogurt came from Iowa and the strawberries from California) you may do so, but it is not necessary.StoreItem typeBrandLocation of OriginMiles from Englewood, COSafewayTomatoesFresh ProduceBakersfield, CA1036SafewayCornFresh ProduceVandalia, OH1202SafewayOnionsFresh ProducePortland, OR1250SafewayOlive OilBartenuraSyracuse, NY and Olives from Naples, Italy1674 and 4408SafewayChicken BreastFoster FarmsKelso, WA1290SafewayCheerios Breakfast CerealGeneral MillsAlbuquerque, NM441SafewayKosher Sliced Jack CheeseAndersonMineola, NY1810King SoopersWhite BreadKing SoopersEnglewood, CO and flour from Mexico City1697King SoopersOrangesFresh ProduceMexico City1697King SoopersLemonsFresh ProduceSanta Paula, CA1055The total miles between the stores and the product origin are 17560 miles.

Additionally, I travelled around 16.5 miles to access the stores themselves, so the total miles for my produce is 17576.5 miles.There are many products on offer which can be found locally, such as corn. However, this is currently not in season in the area or not in stock, which means that my miles are far further than they could potentially be. It is interesting to consider how many miles I could “save” by buying no processed food and making everything from scratch from farms and stores in the CO area.

However, this would potentially limit the range of foods I eat and would perhaps make it more difficult to get a balanced diet.