JAK
12-22-2006, 12:48 PM
I read the article below about the crude oil that goes into food production, processing, packaging, and distribution. I do some hiking and backpacking and have often thought about it in terms of food calories per day, and even food calories per mile, but I have never thought about it in terms of miles per gallon, crude oil that is.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/03/26/ING3PHRU681.DTL
A lot of fossil-fuel energy goes into the production of food:
-- Bowl of oatmeal porridge: 4 ounces of crude oil.
-- Serving of red raspberries: 1 ounce of crude oil.
-- Butter, milk and salt: 1 ounce of crude oil.
-- That cup of java: 2 ounces of crude oil.
The article claims 8oz of crude oil for a 400 kcal breakfast. That would be 5600 kcal for a 7 pound gallon of crude oil. People hiking the Appalachian Trail on 5600 kcal per day might average 10 miles per day. That would work out to 10 miles per gallon, based on the amount of crude oil that goes into the breakfast contained in the article. Geez, I know I need a tune up, and that I'm carrying around a spare tire, but I didn't think I was an old 8 cylinder gas guzzler.
Well let's not all get too discouraged. I think if we choose our food wisely, avoiding packaging and processing, and buying locally produced food, perhaps organically grown, I'll bet we could improve our fuel consumption to 100 miles per gallon, perhaps even 1000 miles per gallon. Of course we can't just let our engines idle. We would still need to get out and do some walking every day. When they say your mileage may vary, they're not kidding. *;D
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/03/26/ING3PHRU681.DTL
A lot of fossil-fuel energy goes into the production of food:
-- Bowl of oatmeal porridge: 4 ounces of crude oil.
-- Serving of red raspberries: 1 ounce of crude oil.
-- Butter, milk and salt: 1 ounce of crude oil.
-- That cup of java: 2 ounces of crude oil.
The article claims 8oz of crude oil for a 400 kcal breakfast. That would be 5600 kcal for a 7 pound gallon of crude oil. People hiking the Appalachian Trail on 5600 kcal per day might average 10 miles per day. That would work out to 10 miles per gallon, based on the amount of crude oil that goes into the breakfast contained in the article. Geez, I know I need a tune up, and that I'm carrying around a spare tire, but I didn't think I was an old 8 cylinder gas guzzler.
Well let's not all get too discouraged. I think if we choose our food wisely, avoiding packaging and processing, and buying locally produced food, perhaps organically grown, I'll bet we could improve our fuel consumption to 100 miles per gallon, perhaps even 1000 miles per gallon. Of course we can't just let our engines idle. We would still need to get out and do some walking every day. When they say your mileage may vary, they're not kidding. *;D