Tue 29 Apr 2008
The Environmental Cost of Global Food
Tuesday, Apr 29th, 2008 at 6:59 pmCategories: Food; Oil; World; Pollution; Transportation
Posted by Administrator
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“… Fuel for international travel and transport of goods, including food, is exempt from taxes, unlike trucks, cars and buses. There is also no tax on fuel used by ocean freighters.”
Cod caught off Norway is shipped to China to be turned into filets, then shipped back to Norway for sale. Argentine lemons fill supermarket shelves on the Citrus Coast of Spain, as local lemons rot on the ground. Half of Europe’s peas are grown and packaged in Kenya.
… Under longstanding trade agreements, fuel for international freight carried by sea and air is not taxed. Now, many economists, environmental advocates and politicians say it is time to make shippers and shoppers pay for the pollution, through taxes or other measures.
… Proponents say ending these breaks could help ensure that producers and consumers pay the environmental cost of increasingly well-traveled food.
The food and transport industries say the issue is more complicated.
- Elisabeth Rosenthal @ New York Times: April 26, 2008: Link.
Via Jon Taplin’s blog: Link.
