{"id":152073,"date":"2024-03-06T11:59:36","date_gmt":"2024-03-06T16:59:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/?p=152073"},"modified":"2024-08-30T00:45:36","modified_gmt":"2024-08-30T04:45:36","slug":"foods-big-plastic-problem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/2024\/03\/foods-big-plastic-problem\/","title":{"rendered":"Digging In: Food\u2019s Big, Plastic Problem"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cDoes anyone realize we\u2019re headed toward plastic armageddon?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

That\u2019s how Bradley Aiken of Portland, OR began his response to our <\/span>call for reader questions<\/span><\/a> about where their food comes from. \u201cMy weekly visits to the local farmers\u2019 markets still find an overabundance and reliance on plastic pint containers of berries, single-use plastic bags,and straws! I thought we were done with straws, really?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Bradley\u2019s lament probably feels familiar to most sustainability-minded consumers. Plastic is truly everywhere. Over just a few decades, it\u2019s become an inescapable part of modern life, permeating nearly every aspect of our lives, from the food we eat (usually wrapped and bagged in plastic and often <\/span>containing it<\/span><\/a>) to the clothes we wear (<\/span>60 percent<\/span><\/a> of which are made from plastic) to the microplastics hiding just about everywhere, from <\/span>clouds<\/span><\/a> to <\/span>human placentas<\/span><\/a> to the Earth\u2019s <\/span>most remote corners<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPlastic packaging is definitely a major source of plastic pollution, and it can seem totally overwhelming to folks when they go out to get food, especially since the great majority of our food is wrapped in plastic,\u201d says Erica Cirino, communications manager for the advocacy group <\/span>Plastic Pollution Coalition<\/span><\/a> and<\/span> author of <\/span>Thicker Than Water: The Quest for Solutions to the Plastic Crisis<\/span><\/i><\/a>. \u201cIt\u2019s estimated that more than 40 percent of all plastic produced is single-use plastic packaging, which is an astounding amount.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Hey plastic, don\u2019t touch my cheese<\/b><\/h2>\n

Before the advent of plastic packaging, food <\/span>was packed in a variety of materials<\/span><\/a>, from natural substances such as gourds and leaves to, most recently, glass bottles and jars, metal cans and tins and paper products. Today, plastic encases a large and growing percentage of our food: A <\/span>recent survey<\/span><\/a> of Canadian grocery stores found that 71 percent of all produce was packaged in plastic and that baby food had the highest share of plastic packaging, at 76 percent.<\/span><\/p>\n

There are a few reasons why so much of our food is packaged in plastic. Perhaps most importantly, it\u2019s cheaper to manufacture and transport than alternatives. And as the world grapples with an urgent energy transition, fossil fuel companies jittery about the prospect of decreasing demand for oil are <\/span>looking to plastics<\/span><\/a> as their next major profit driver\u2014and are on track to <\/span>triple global plastic production by 2060<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n