by Audrey Brooks

Introduction

When we think of ways to cut down on pollution to our environment, importing goods may not be the first thing that comes to mind. 

After all, vehicles used for transport, such as planes, emit large amounts of carbon dioxide (CO₂) into the atmosphere. But when we dive deeper into the implications of both growing food locally and importing it, we find that importing food might be a solution to reducing the harm to our planet. It is a game of balancing our emissions and reducing them where we can. 

Impacts of Locally Grown Produce

With the rise of corporations pushing farmers to produce on a larger scale, they often turn to the use of fertilizers, pesticides, and insecticides. Not only this, but they are incentivized to grow crops that may not be native to their area, which leads to the excessive use of water to sustain those crops. For areas that are arid, such as Colorado, a better alternative may be to import produce that requires a lot of water from more suitable places.

Impacts of Imports 

There are many modes of transportation when importing goods; this includes air travel, the use of trucks and railroads, boat travel, and piggyback (trailers). Some modes of transportation can carry more cargo, which means they will not have to make as many trips. When considering what would be best for a community, we have to keep these factors in mind as some modes of transportation produce more CO₂ than others, while others take more trips. Right now, we import most of our produce from other countries, which increases the impact we have on the environment.

How Could Colorado Balance This Better?

As of right now, 86% of Colorado’s water is directed toward agricultural practices because of its semi-arid climate. This is incredibly wasteful as we could be using this water for other activities or storing it for emergency use. 

For starters, the water-intensive crops that we produce here could be imported from better suited areas, and our crops could be switched to less water-intensive crops. 

Not only would this help us conserve the amount of water we have in our state, but also help the economy by keeping the money in our country instead of buying from outside of the United States of America.

Overall, importing goods from other states in cases where it would be less impactive than growing it in an area that cannot sustain it well, would be better for the environment.