| | | | | Illustration by Emily Sabens/The Washington Post; iStock | | If you've ever tried to grow a meal in your backyard, you have my utmost respect. Farming is hard. As an avid gardener, I set out to see if my agrarian attempts were helping or hurting the climate in this week's column. | |  | | Venture into my backyard and you'll see a kale patch, a riotous row of Cascadia snap peas and red lettuce. My vegetable garden is a produce factory. Every week, I can pick a hearty salad, juicy handfuls of snap peas, and as much oregano and thyme as I like. These crops were selected, after much trial and error, based on what my family would eat and what nature dictates will grow on my little spot on the planet — except for some straggly tomatoes that succumb each year to San Francisco's foggy summers. (I refuse to give up). As a climate columnist, I wondered: Could I make better gardening choices for the climate? More importantly, does it even matter? Here's what I found: | | Industrial agriculture produces an unprecedented amount of food at a steep environmental cost. We can grow roughly five times more grain per acre today than a few centuries ago because of fossil fuels — while generating about 25 percent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions. It's not about miles. Food's carbon footprint tends to come from growing, processing, storage and disposal, not transportation, which on average contributes about 10 percent of the total. So whether you grow it next door or on the other side of the country, the biggest difference for the climate is how it's grown. Think less fertilizer, more compost and no tractors. We can grow more at home at a far lower cost to the environment. One study focused on Des Moines found half of the region's food could be grown locally with lower emissions, energy and water compared to large factory farms — if not always more cheaply. Not all veggies are equal. A few crops offered the most environmental bang for the buck at the small scale: lettuce, carrots, onions and tomatoes. Others, such as potatoes and pumpkins, didn't score as highly. Depending on your soil, your mileage may vary. | |  | | Vegetable gardens will yield more than food. They can create a food system that's more resilient and less wasteful, even if they can't be a complete substitute for conventional agriculture. "The pros are going to have higher yields," says Tiffanie Stone, a researcher at Iowa State University. "But there can be other benefits. Ideally, it is a balance between efficiency and resilience." Read this week's column for some tips on how to grow a climate-friendly garden. | | | Did you know I read all your emails? Be part of the Climate Coach community. Write with clever ideas, bad jokes and ways I can make this newsletter better for you at climatecoach@washpost.com. | | Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up here to get The Climate Coach in your inbox every Tuesday and Thursday. | | See you on Thursday, Michael Coren, Climate Coach | | | | | | | | | |
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