Radio Lillooet

Why does my tomato look so perfect, and how much fuel was required for it to travel here from Mexico? What about the truck my tomato hitched a ride on? How much energy was required to build that truck, and wait a minute, how much energy was required to make that fuel? I know a guy down the street who grows tomatoes. Why doesn’t the grocery store around the corner sell his tomatoes? What about the road my tomato travelled on. How many workers are required per year to maintain that road? And how much fuel do they use to get to the highway that they’re paid to maintain? Didn’t I buy this tomato like a month ago? Why does it still look so perfect? And why did that girl at the checkout counter assume I needed a plastic bag for my tomato? She even gave me a puzzled look when I told her I didn’t need one! Did I mention the guy down the street grows tomatoes?

Everyone’s telling me to “go organic”. What’s the difference between organic and non-organic? And why is it that the organic produce at the grocery store is always wrapped in more packaging and stamped with more labels than the non-organic produce? Isn’t ‘organic’ supposed to represent a more ecologically friendly alternative? Why does the same company make both a fair-trade coffee and an unfair-trade coffee? How does that company justify selling an unfairly traded product? Was the truck that was transporting the coffee using organic fuel? If not, is the coffee still organic? Whew!