Is It Worth the Pollution and Costs? Flying Montreal Bagels to Vancouver, Canada
We do not measure the amount of pollution and costs incurring when products are transporting in a way having greater pollution and cost. This as measured against local products. A comment on Lloyd Alter’s piece discusses dough coming from Italy for pizzas?
“I’m less concerned about this than that our major grocery chains. Currently, PC (store) has a “Hand Tossed in Italy” brand of pizza. So Canada ships our wheat to Italy to be processed, turned into pizza dough, assumed stoned fired there, and then sent back to us for likely more processing. Its unbelievable that this is somehow cost effective and even appropriate in a climate emergency.”
What is the measure for global trade? The costs for pollution are typically not in pricing.
Bagels, Carbon Upfront, Lloyd Alter
I know it is silly of me to complain about a Globe and Mail about people flying 5,000 St. Viateur bagels to Vancouver. It’s just 500 kilograms airfreighted 3693 km when a kilo of freight puts out 2.24 kg of CO2 for 1000 km so that’s 4,136 kg of CO2 or 827 grams for each 100-gram bagel. At least they left the PM2.5 from the wood-fired bakery back in the Plateau.
It is silly, but we should think about the carbon when we do these things.
The world’s infrastructure was built for a climate no longer existing, Angry Bear
Be a locavore.
Is this a case where the planes are flying anyway so there might just as well be some cargo on them, in addition to or instead of passengers?
Any added weight translates to wing loading and drag and consequently fuel. An airplane with 500kg of bagels definitely burns more fuel than without the bagels on same trip…..not a “well it’s going anyway”, at least as far as fuel. It does amortize crew costs though, if cargo handling doesn’t eat it right back up. Someone in Vancouver should be able to make good bagels.
I’d guess that if planes are available, and if the shipping costs don’t reflect the actual cost of the added cargo weight, etc, then bagel crafters in Montreal are going to ship their product to wherever, taking their profits where they can.
Best places to grab a superior bagel in Vancouver