What's in Your Sandwich?
People are always talking about air pollution caused by cars, deforestation, and stuff like that. But what about something simple, like a BLT sandwich? Check it out.
Let's start with the bread. All you need for those slices of bread is just some flour, right? Well, you are sort of on the right track. You need flour, sugar, and many other ingredients. But that isn't the end of it either. Let's go back, all the way to the roots. For these slices of bread, you need a 10 by 10 inch square of soil, a single serving field. You would also need a tractor to plow the field. There goes some fuel, and some carbon dioxide released into the air, about enough to fit a pint glass. The tractor comes back to plant the seeds. Another drop of fuel, another puff of carbon dioxide. Now it's time for some fertilizer. You would want to use a tractor to spread the fertilizer. Some of this fertilizer helps the plants grow but some are swallowed by microbes and "burped out" which releases some more carbon dioxide. Of course, this fertilizer was made in a factory and that took a couple gallons of carbon dioxide. Finally, it's harvest time. Again, you use your tractor to harvest the plants. This is enough to produce a measly one-third of a cup of grain, which you drive to the mill, where it gets ground, and then it gets driven to the bakery, where they add some water, sugar, and yeast, each with their own carbon journey.
This bread gets put in the oven and then into a plastic bag, which was also made in a factory. But then again, the factory was also made with a lot of carbon dioxide.
The results are coming in... it turns out that the fertilizer uses to most carbon dioxide. But wait - that isn't all of it. What about the lettuce, the tomato, the bacon, and the mayo sauce? The bacon, interestingly, turns out to use the most carbon dioxide out of all the ingredients, over nine times as much as the two slices of bread. To produce this sandwich, we've just released over 800 grams of carbon dioxide into the air, enough to fill 100 gallon jugs. Eat one sandwich per day for a year and you've put the same amount of carbon dioxide into the air than you would have if you drove a car from New York to Chicago. Turns out this simple sandwich isn't so simple after all.
Credits: "How Did Your Sandwich Change the World?"
Let's start with the bread. All you need for those slices of bread is just some flour, right? Well, you are sort of on the right track. You need flour, sugar, and many other ingredients. But that isn't the end of it either. Let's go back, all the way to the roots. For these slices of bread, you need a 10 by 10 inch square of soil, a single serving field. You would also need a tractor to plow the field. There goes some fuel, and some carbon dioxide released into the air, about enough to fit a pint glass. The tractor comes back to plant the seeds. Another drop of fuel, another puff of carbon dioxide. Now it's time for some fertilizer. You would want to use a tractor to spread the fertilizer. Some of this fertilizer helps the plants grow but some are swallowed by microbes and "burped out" which releases some more carbon dioxide. Of course, this fertilizer was made in a factory and that took a couple gallons of carbon dioxide. Finally, it's harvest time. Again, you use your tractor to harvest the plants. This is enough to produce a measly one-third of a cup of grain, which you drive to the mill, where it gets ground, and then it gets driven to the bakery, where they add some water, sugar, and yeast, each with their own carbon journey.
This bread gets put in the oven and then into a plastic bag, which was also made in a factory. But then again, the factory was also made with a lot of carbon dioxide.
The results are coming in... it turns out that the fertilizer uses to most carbon dioxide. But wait - that isn't all of it. What about the lettuce, the tomato, the bacon, and the mayo sauce? The bacon, interestingly, turns out to use the most carbon dioxide out of all the ingredients, over nine times as much as the two slices of bread. To produce this sandwich, we've just released over 800 grams of carbon dioxide into the air, enough to fill 100 gallon jugs. Eat one sandwich per day for a year and you've put the same amount of carbon dioxide into the air than you would have if you drove a car from New York to Chicago. Turns out this simple sandwich isn't so simple after all.
Credits: "How Did Your Sandwich Change the World?"
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