View Full Version : Your average lettuce travels 1500 miles...
I read recently that our food items travel on average 1500 miles. That's right, before it got to your salad bowl, that lettuce did some serious travel by truck. Almost everything we eat comes from somewhere else.
Just wondering what we could do about that...
Some things are necessary though. Of course if you don't eat them, you don't need to have them carted right? For instance, sweet potatos won't grow here worth a crap. So we get them from Lousiiana. As well as banannas, oranges, and prostitutes. Actually, we have our own prostitutes in Detroit but they are a little over ripe. ;)
I like my small garden and think alot can be acomplished if everyone had one. Nothing big, just a small plot with a few of my favorite vegies in it.
wahoonc
03-29-07, 05:47 PM
Some things are necessary though. Of course if you don't eat them, you don't need to have them carted right? For instance, sweet potatos won't grow here worth a crap. So we get them from Lousiiana. As well as banannas, oranges, and prostitutes. Actually, we have our own prostitutes in Detroit but they are a little over ripe. ;)
I like my small garden and think alot can be acomplished if everyone had one. Nothing big, just a small plot with a few of my favorite vegies in it.
Need to get your Sweet 'taters (http://www.ncagr.com/markets/commodit/horticul/sweetpot/) from NC...we are closer than Louisiana:D I do agree that it is amazing how far some stuff travels. I make it part of my shopping to know where my stuff comes from and try to buy as close to home as possible. It is easier in the spring and summer months when the local farmer's market is open. They have the regulation that to be sold it has to have been grown or produced with in a 50 mile radius:beer: I do have my own garden(s) and I just put the bedding plants in the ground this week:D tomatoes, peppers and early corn, the rest will go in this weekend, more corn, squash, field peas, beans, broccoli, spinach and more potatoes (early ones went in 2 weeks ago) we probably grow 50% of our total veggies. Lettuce does not grow well around here due to the heat, but we do manage to get a few early in the season. Also have chickens for fresh eggs and are working on the goats for milk and cheese. I realize not everyone has the ability to raise these things in their locale and we are very fortunate to live where we do. But just about everybody could do a few containers of fresh veggies on a balcony or porch. BTW we do both square foot gardens (http://www.squarefootgardening.com/) and a larger one.
Aaron:)
Need to get your Sweet 'taters (http://www.ncagr.com/markets/commodit/horticul/sweetpot/) from NC...we are closer than Louisiana:D I do agree that it is amazing how far some stuff travels. I make it part of my shopping to know where my stuff comes from and try to buy as close to home as possible. It is easier in the spring and summer months when the local farmer's market is open. They have the regulation that to be sold it has to have been grown or produced with in a 50 mile radius:beer: I do have my own garden(s) and I just put the bedding plants in the ground this week:D tomatoes, peppers and early corn, the rest will go in this weekend, more corn, squash, field peas, beans, broccoli, spinach and more potatoes (early ones went in 2 weeks ago) we probably grow 50% of our total veggies. Lettuce does not grow well around here due to the heat, but we do manage to get a few early in the season. Also have chickens for fresh eggs and are working on the goats for milk and cheese. I realize not everyone has the ability to raise these things in their locale and we are very fortunate to live where we do. But just about everybody could do a few containers of fresh veggies on a balcony or porch. BTW we do both square foot gardens (http://www.squarefootgardening.com/) and a larger one.
Aaron:)
If I had the option I'd likely chose a closer producer for out of season vegetables. But the only two grocers within biking distance get theirs from Louisiana.
Sometimes I miss where I came from. I grew up on a tobacco farm in Kentucky where my entire family lived on and worked the farm. About 30 of us or so, cousins, uncles, aunts, etc. We raised ALL of our vegetables and livestock, as well our made our own smoke and wine(s). those were the days, but are now long gone.
Tom Stormcrowe
03-29-07, 06:10 PM
I read recently that our food items travel on average 1500 miles. That's right, before it got to your salad bowl, that lettuce did some serious travel by truck. Almost everything we eat comes from somewhere else.
Just wondering what we could do about that...
If you truly want a laugh, when I was driving refrigerated freight, the most profitable cargo I hauled was Fla Oranges to California, where I turned around and reloaded....(yep, you guessed it!) California Oranges to take to Fla!:eek:
wahoonc
03-29-07, 06:28 PM
If I had the option I'd likely chose a closer producer for out of season vegetables. But the only two grocers within biking distance get theirs from Louisiana.
Sometimes I miss where I came from. I grew up on a tobacco farm in Kentucky where my entire family lived on and worked the farm. About 30 of us or so, cousins, uncles, aunts, etc. We raised ALL of our vegetables and livestock, as well our made our own smoke and wine(s). those were the days, but are now long gone.
My family came out of an Iowa dairy farm;) I am currently living on my wife's family property. It originally was around 75 acres that they purchased for about $1 and acre way back in the 20's IIRC the monthly payment on it was something like $5 a month:eek: We live on the remaining 40 acres and are doing our best to protect it from suburban encroachment. The only saving grace at the moment is that we are surrounded on 3 sides by government land owned by Fort Bragg and they have no plans to develop it, they want it as a buffer zone from development. I don't know how much longer we can hold out...they have just issued development permits for about 10,000:eek: new homes to be built in the next 5-7 years on near by land. Fort Bragg is growing...as long as we can maintain the agricultural status we should be okay. When the family first got the land they farmed with a mule, grew cotton, corn, and tobacco. We still have a mule named Charlie, who is supposedly a descendant of one of the original ones. Right now his sorry butt is living the life of Riley, but that may change in the future:p
Aaron:)
Square foot gardening Rules!
We have a 15-18 foot plot at our house. You would be amazed at how much you can grow. And part of it is getting used to different things. There are things that don't grow well in our garden, so we eat what does grow well.
Think about our history. 100 years ago or so there wasn't this capability for people to ship food everywhere. So people ate what grew locally and didn't eat the things that didn't. And they seemed to get by.
I have found foods that nobody eats anymore that are just downright yummy because I grew it.
-D
donrhummy
03-29-07, 09:28 PM
If you truly want a laugh, when I was driving refrigerated freight, the most profitable cargo I hauled was Fla Oranges to California, where I turned around and reloaded....(yep, you guessed it!) California Oranges to take to Fla!:eek:
That, right there, is consumerism.
twochins
03-29-07, 11:29 PM
yeah, i read about this in a mag...the cheapest mode of transport turns out to be by ship...which means that getting grapes from Chile is cheaper than grapes from California (transported by truck)
if i was supposed to eat what grows around here...it be rocks and sand with a sprinkling of creosote for some color
Square foot gardening Rules!
We have a 15-18 foot plot at our house. You would be amazed at how much you can grow. And part of it is getting used to different things. There are things that don't grow well in our garden, so we eat what does grow well.
Think about our history. 100 years ago or so there wasn't this capability for people to ship food everywhere. So people ate what grew locally and didn't eat the things that didn't. And they seemed to get by.
I have found foods that nobody eats anymore that are just downright yummy because I grew it.
-D
Derath, when you say you have a 15-18 foot plot, does that mean 15 by 15 or 18 by 18?
I am reading the Square Foot Gardening book and have recently sectioned off my veggie garden in squares. I have kept a garden for the last 5 years, but last year the yield was terrible... I probably spent too much time on my bike and too little weeding. I'm going to give this methodology a try... set what happens. One great thing about SFG is that you can get a lot of veggies out of a small space. He argues that most suburban gardens are too big!!
I just set 4 lettuce seeds in pots on my deck. My wife has had great results growing herbs and tomatoes in pots, so I'm going to try it with some early lettuce.
We still have a mule named Charlie, who is supposedly a descendant of one of the original ones.
How did this happen? Was the horse parent a descendant of the original horse parent and the donkey parent a descendant of the original donkey parent?
Derath, when you say you have a 15-18 foot plot, does that mean 15 by 15 or 18 by 18?
I am reading the Square Foot Gardening book and have recently sectioned off my veggie garden in squares. I have kept a garden for the last 5 years, but last year the yield was terrible... I probably spent too much time on my bike and too little weeding. I'm going to give this methodology a try... set what happens. One great thing about SFG is that you can get a lot of veggies out of a small space. He argues that most suburban gardens are too big!!
I just set 4 lettuce seeds in pots on my deck. My wife has had great results growing herbs and tomatoes in pots, so I'm going to try it with some early lettuce.
Yea mine is pretty big. I rarely have planted more than 50% of it and still get more food than I can handle. The rest of the space I plant useful flowers etc that attrack certain insects so that I don't have to use pesticide. My garden is 100% chemical free! :D
Anyhow, my garden space is 15ftx18ft. I blocked it off with pretty 1 foot square pavers for walking areas so it looks nice and pretty. I ended up with somewhere in the range of 190 squares for planting.
-D
Anyhow, my garden space is 15ftx18ft. I blocked it off with pretty 1 foot square pavers for walking areas so it looks nice and pretty. I ended up with somewhere in the range of 190 squares for planting.
-D
Mine *was* about 20 by 24, but, as I say, it was a little too large for me. I dismantled a small greenhouse my son and I built and I am using two walls as "squares". So now I will have two "squares" of 6*10ft sectioned into 2 by 3 beds. It's not exactly the 4 by 4 squares recommended in the book, but I think I can further subdivide it to get it working. I think a smaller garden more intensively worked (and weeded) would work better for me.
kjohnnytarr
03-30-07, 11:20 AM
Riding a Greyhound a few weeks back, I met a guy who runs all around South America and Mexico buying up groceries for American distributors. Meanwhile, folks down there often can't match our level of demand, so they can't afford to buy their own products once they start getting sold at the prices our economy drives them up to. It's only going to get worse too: once we start relying on corn for fuel, tortilla prices in Mexico will shoot through the roof, and the average Mexican family will have trouble affording many food staples. Hopefully they can hop over our shiny new fence before they starve.
:-(
My mother has an unbelievable take on all this: "why don't we just buy Mexico? Then we won't have to take their crap anymore, and we can make money off of all of their tourist spots!" Unbelievable.
Every community in America has locally grown food available. The trick is finding it. You need to go to your city market and local farmer's markets. With just a little searching, you'll soon find sources for most of the food you need, all grown withing 50 miles of your home. But you do have to get out there and look.
One advantage is how much fun it is to find the good stuff. When I go to local farmer's markets, my bike gets to wait next to lots of other bikes, so it never gets lonely. There's live music while you shop, sometimes even theatre. The growers love to tell you about their crops and share recipes. Community groups have booths to inform you of what's going on in your neighborhood. It's an atmosphere a lot like the old street fairs, and I feel like I'm sharing in a tradition that goes back thousands of years.
wahoonc
03-30-07, 12:03 PM
How did this happen? Was the horse parent a descendant of the original horse parent and the donkey parent a descendant of the original donkey parent?
Yep, came from the same family of breeders too:p We have a pretty strong mule community in our county, one family has been breeding for over 100 years from the same farm and have book after book of written records.
Aaron:)
Cosmoline
03-30-07, 12:32 PM
Living in Alaska, there's no alternative but to eat at least some imported fruits and veges. For a start, almost no fruit grows here. And the vegetable season is short. I buy a lot of local spuds, carrots and cabbage. But the bananas, apples, etc. are all barged up. On the plus side, barging is a pretty efficient means of transport. I avoid the more delicate fruits that must be flown up, mostly because they're amazingly expensive.
jdeane4
03-30-07, 02:14 PM
There is a farmers market half a mile down the road from me. I head over there often. They sell Georgia grown produce which not only is cheaper but fresher than store bought produce. Luckily, I can get my food almost year round. Produce isnt good from the market during our peak winter months though. Buy Local!!
lyeinyoureye
03-30-07, 03:02 PM
Trucks are really efficient at moving crap, trains even more so, and f'n cargo ships are crazy. I think growing stuff in the proper climate and then moving it is much less energy intensive compared to trying grow it in areas it's not suited to. All told, I think business accounts for less than 10% of liquid fuel consumption. We're o.k. when it comes down to moving stuff, it's moving people where we waste a lot of energy. Of course, this is by design. Maximization of consumption allows for minimization of risk and maximization of profits.
Surprise: your average bike travels 15,000 miles from Asia.
wahoonc
03-30-07, 08:14 PM
Surprise: your average bike travels 15,000 miles from Asia.
Not mine...they only traveled about 3,000 miles from England:D ;) I do have a couple of Tawain built ones though:o But my primary bikes are English built.
Aaron:)
LandLuger
03-30-07, 08:20 PM
Every community in America has locally grown food available. The trick is finding it. You need to go to your city market and local farmer's markets. With just a little searching, you'll soon find sources for most of the food you need, all grown withing 50 miles of your home. But you do have to get out there and look.
One advantage is how much fun it is to find the good stuff. When I go to local farmer's markets, my bike gets to wait next to lots of other bikes, so it never gets lonely. There's live music while you shop, sometimes even theatre. The growers love to tell you about their crops and share recipes. Community groups have booths to inform you of what's going on in your neighborhood. It's an atmosphere a lot like the old street fairs, and I feel like I'm sharing in a tradition that goes back thousands of years.
Roody is absolutely correct; the social networking that I have done with the local gardeners keeps the family well supplied throughout the year. Anyone who gardens successfully can attest to the overabundance of produce that at times cannot be given away fast enough.
To the OP, I could care less if the trucks stopped shipping Iceburg lettuce to the stores tommorrow because the nutritional value is so dubious. To my surprise, our local veterinarian recently told my daughter not to feed her herbivorous lizard store bought lettuce because it is practically useless in meeting the animals nutritional needs:eek: Seriously, anyone can attest to the superiority of truly fresh vegetables over what the mega-farms can turn out.
If you truly want a laugh, when I was driving refrigerated freight, the most profitable cargo I hauled was Fla Oranges to California, where I turned around and reloaded....(yep, you guessed it!) California Oranges to take to Fla!:eek:
Although that's a really extreme (and dumb) example, it nicely illustrates the biggest problem in food transportation--truckers are paid by the mile. You can't find a trucker willing to move a load for less than 500 miles or so. This explains why here, in the heart of NYS Apple country, we frequently see Washington apples in the store. Personally, I'll skip apples if they aren't from NYS.
There's a food cooperative here that's addressing that for local farmers, but they can afford only so many trucks, so most farmers are still forced to sell out-of-state, and most grocers are forced to buy from out-of-state.
wahoonc
03-31-07, 06:45 AM
Roody is absolutely correct; the social networking that I have done with the local gardeners keeps the family well supplied throughout the year. Anyone who gardens successfully can attest to the overabundance of produce that at times cannot be given away fast enough.
Anybody want some zucchini?:D ...I don't plant that anymore, one year we literally had bushels of it and couldn't give it to anyone, in fact when saw us coming with a brown paper bag, they would get this "look" on their faces and start stammering:p
Aaron:)
Every community in America has locally grown food available. The trick is finding it.
It can sometimes be quite a trick. We occasionally buy local apples, but it usually means having to drive out to the orchard. Often the orchard is 20-40 miles from home. We also buy a pig once or twice a year from a local farmer. The pig is usually free-range and antibiotic-free and the farmer delivers (well, actually we usually have to meet him somewhere in town.) Problem with both the pig and the apples is that both require some sort of extra refrigeration.
I think the local farmer's market would be a better solution. We have them here, but I notice that they don't always have local produce... but they do have some and this would probably be a better way to get produce including the pigs and apples.
Surprise: your average bike travels 15,000 miles from Asia.
A good point, but no surprise to me. You can actually buy a custom bicycle that has travelled a bit less, but it would cost about $4000 and you'd have no idea where the tubing actually came from (though... another surprise... the cassette/derailleurs/spokes/rims etc. etc. would probably have travelled that far...)
I buy maybe 6 bikes in a lifetime, but I eat my lettuce every day.
If you truly want a laugh, when I was driving refrigerated freight, the most profitable cargo I hauled was Fla Oranges to California, where I turned around and reloaded....(yep, you guessed it!) California Oranges to take to Fla!:eek:
This isn't as dumb as it seems. The oranges aren't interchangeable. I saw a display at the USDA showing statistics about orange crops. Florida produced a much larger orange crop than California, but it was mostly juice oranges. So the table fruit that you see in the stores is mostly California oranges. The funny thing is that the oranges were trucked rather than concentrate. When I knew people in the orange juice business in Florida, they couldn't get enough juice oranges for their contract and had to use Braziliean concentrate to make up. Another thing is that the different types of oranges still ripen at different months in different regions. If a retailer in California wants to extend the season for honeybells for example, the retailer may need to buy from a Florida grove where they ripen a few weeks earlier or later than in California.
Tom Stormcrowe
03-31-07, 02:24 PM
This isn't as dumb as it seems. The oranges aren't interchangeable. I saw a display at the USDA showing statistics about orange crops. Florida produced a much larger orange crop than California, but it was mostly juice oranges. So the table fruit that you see in the stores is mostly California oranges. The funny thing is that the oranges were trucked rather than concentrate. When I knew people in the orange juice business in Florida, they couldn't get enough juice oranges for their contract and had to use Braziliean concentrate to make up. Another thing is that the different types of oranges still ripen at different months in different regions. If a retailer in California wants to extend the season for honeybells for example, the retailer may need to buy from a Florida grove where they ripen a few weeks earlier or later than in California.
I understand that:p It's just too good to pass up on talking about it though;) Especially tha part about hauling Oranges back as well.
Wulfheir
04-02-07, 08:20 AM
100 mile diet (http://www.100milediet.org) Here's an idea about reducing the travelling distance of your food.
Another problem with our centralized food system is illustrated by recent food recalls. Since one plant is often producing a huge portion of the food consumed all over the country, a mishap in one place ends up poisoning a lot of people (or other animals, in the case of the recent pet food crisis). When one huge spinach farm in California was contaminated, people in almost every state got sick. It was hard to trace all the bad spinach, since it was sold and resold under many different labels. One more great reason to go local!
I'm in the process of tracking down year-round fresh produce that's local here in mid-Michigan. I understand a student co-op at Michigan State University has started a CSA with shares of produce that's grown all year in MSU greenhouses. I'm researching that now for possible use next fall.
I'm in the process of tracking down year-round fresh produce that's local here in mid-Michigan. I understand a student co-op at Michigan State University has started a CSA with shares of produce that's grown all year in MSU greenhouses. I'm researching that now for possible use next fall. Has anybody found sources for off-season fresh local food in their area?
This isn't as dumb as it seems. The oranges aren't interchangeable. I saw a display at the USDA showing statistics about orange crops. Florida produced a much larger orange crop than California, but it was mostly juice oranges. So the table fruit that you see in the stores is mostly California oranges. The funny thing is that the oranges were trucked rather than concentrate. When I knew people in the orange juice business in Florida, they couldn't get enough juice oranges for their contract and had to use Braziliean concentrate to make up. Another thing is that the different types of oranges still ripen at different months in different regions. If a retailer in California wants to extend the season for honeybells for example, the retailer may need to buy from a Florida grove where they ripen a few weeks earlier or later than in California.
It's still dumb, and horribly wasteful. Locally grown oranges of all varieties must be available in both Florida and California! It's just a matter of getting on your bike and tracking it down.
I buy lots of foods from a farmers' market 3 minutes ride from my home. Here in PA, lots of foods grow pretty well- potatoes and root veggies, lots of kinds of green veggies, etc. I buy whatever looks tasty from the farmers and it winds up being pretty different from what I would buy from a grocery store's produce section. I used to never buy sweet potatoes, turnips, or arugula. A lot of stuff is totally unappealing after it's survived extra-large-scale growing processes and long-distance transport that takes a long time-- but it's actually tasty if it's local and fresh.
When it comes to stuff that's been canned or processed, pasta, bread, beans, etc, I usually buy non-local because I'm poor and I go with the cheap stuff. In the case of raw fruits and vegetables, supermarkets can't consistently beat the prices at the farmers' market.
For more affordable local food, look into community supported agriculture (CSA), where you buy "shares" in a growers crop at the beginning of the year, so you're sharing the risks and rewards of the farmer.
Also, ask at the farmer's market about good deals. For example, I buy "juice apples" that are unattractive but just as delicious and wholesome as the regular apples. I usually make apple sauce out of them, but they're good for any cooking purposes. I might pay fifty cents when the regular apples are going for two dollars.
Often, if you go to the market just before it closes, you can get a good deal on stuff the grower doesn't want to pack up and take home.
Just wondering what we could do about that...
Look for a local CSA. Here's a place to start: http://www.localharvest.org/csa/
Try to eat only what can be grown locally, and learn how to store food for the offseason. Two more weeks until mine starts selling for the season. :D
Farmers market sellers, unfortunately, aren't always selling locally grown goods.
wahoonc
04-02-07, 03:49 PM
Look for a local CSA. Here's a place to start: http://www.localharvest.org/csa/
Try to eat only what can be grown locally, and learn how to store food for the offseason. Two more weeks until mine starts selling for the season. :D
Farmers market sellers, unfortunately, aren't always selling locally grown goods.
Depends on the market. The one in Dunn, NC has restrictions that only allow them to sell items produced within a 50 mile radius. If I see any bananas or other citrus fruits I will know they aren't enforcing the rules...
Aaron:)
Depends on the market. The one in Dunn, NC has restrictions that only allow them to sell items produced within a 50 mile radius. If I see any bananas or other citrus fruits I will know they aren't enforcing the rules...
Aaron:)
Same in this area. A true farmer's market allows only locally grown food, but other markets have more variety. It's very easy to tell the difference -- just ask somebody!
It's still dumb, and horribly wasteful. Locally grown oranges of all varieties must be available in both Florida and California! It's just a matter of getting on your bike and tracking it down.
When I lived in Florida you could get a huge variety of fruits from local small growers. Some people had what might be called hobby orchards where they grew small quantities of a large variety They'd sell from the roadside. The people who my father knew who did this had day jobs. One thing I learned is that it seems to be eye appeal. Some of the Florida oranges are very tasty but have greenish or yellowish splotches when ripe. They won't sell as well in the store as those California oranges with a deep orange even colored skin, even though they taste better. Shipping oranges from California to Florida seems dumb from an energy or environmental standpoint but if it wasn't profitable for the agribusiness they would stop it.
One of my fond memories of Florida is when I had a night job and would bike home at 3 am when the orange trees were in bloom and the moon was full. The air had this fragrance and everything was quiet except the sounds I made with the bike. I'd turn the generator light off and pedal by moonlight.
An associated painful memory occurred when I discoverd another crazy bicyclist doing the exact same thing by colliding with him. It wasn't on the road through the groves it was on a nearby side path and a car had temporarily impaired our night vision.
jbhowat
04-23-07, 07:08 AM
yeah, i read about this in a mag...the cheapest mode of transport turns out to be by ship...which means that getting grapes from Chile is cheaper than grapes from California (transported by truck)
if i was supposed to eat what grows around here...it be rocks and sand with a sprinkling of creosote for some color
But... I'm guessing the ships from Chile come in to port around.... OH... California. How do the Chile grapes get from Cali to my door, magic?
if i was supposed to eat what grows around here...it be rocks and sand with a sprinkling of creosote for some color
Are you not concerned by the availability of locally grown food?
One day, I imagine it will. :(
lancekagar
04-23-07, 11:11 AM
Just wondering what we could do about that...
Growing one's own food is a great way to go.
In the town I just moved to, many people have their own vegetable/herb gardens going. In my neighborhood, I'd say one out of four houses has a garden bed of some size in their yard.
Surprise: your average bike travels 15,000 miles from Asia.
While most of mine did at some point, most were reclaimed from the waste stream. (aka trash) Aside from a couple of chains and some bar tape, all parts to make them useful again were purchased used or reclaimed from the waste stream. There are ways to make virtually every choice a responsible one.
1fluffhead
04-23-07, 11:38 AM
Just wondering what we could do about that...
If it is really a concern to you, you can read this guy's blog from NYC. No Impact Man (http://noimpactman.typepad.com/blog/) I don't know if I have the dedication to go balls to the walls like he has, but I agree with a lot of his thinking and I have begun to try more of his methods. So far so good. BTW beside biking, worm composting has been the most fun so far.
If it is really a concern to you, you can read this guy's blog from NYC. No Impact Man (http://noimpactman.typepad.com/blog/) I don't know if I have the dedication to go balls to the walls like he has, but I agree with a lot of his thinking and I have begun to try more of his methods. So far so good. BTW beside biking, worm composting has been the most fun so far.
I kind of like some of his ideas, but they are not exactly like mine. Mostly, I would like to do a lot of research and then pick some easy-to-implement ideas. Actually, like the No Impact Man blogger, I keep a compost heap and I do a lot of cycling, most to-and-fro work. But they were easy things to do. I'm now trying to figure out a way to get as much local produce as I can... gardening will do some of it, but I think I need to change my Fall/Winter diet to start using more red cabbage in salads and eat more root-type vegetables. I won't be growing those, but I may be able to pick up some from farmer's markets or maybe joint a CSA.
But the bottom line is that, when I implement some plan, there's always a little more to do. Maybe someday I can get my personal energy usage down to the level of the average Brazilian or Mexican. That would be good.
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