Where did it come from? (activity 1)

The biggest contributor to an average Victorian's Ecological Footprint is food. Everything we eat comes from the natural environment, even the foods that are processed and canned or frozen in plastic. We rely on our environment to provide the food and to support the systems and processes that gets food from its production, to the supermarket and then to our homes.

Food products have a life cycle made up of a series of stages. The 'food footprint' includes animal based and plant based products, and the associated production, processing, packaging, storage, transport and waste of the food.

People buy food products for a range of reasons and often without thinking about where the food has come from and how far it has been transported.

Activity: Next time your family visits the supermarket, record information about the food items in your shopping trolley.

Download the food item recording form (Microsoft Word file, 56KB)

1. Write each food item in the recording form.
2. Record the country or state of origin of each item. If an item is packaged in Australia but the ingredients come from overseas record this as well.
3. Record whether it was packaged/processed/frozen/canned.
4. Record whether items were locally grown and/or processed.
5. Have you purchased fresh produce out of your local growing season?
6. How far has each item travelled to get to you?
7. What locally grown/processed alternatives could you have purchased?
8. In your shopping trolley were most of your food items fresh or processed? What percentage of items were grown or processed in Victoria? What percentage in Australia?
9. Select a fresh fruit or vegetable item in your shopping trolley and draw a life cycle diagram for that item (for example, oranges, apples).
10. Can the fresh fruit or vegetable be purchased as a processed item? Draw a life cycle diagram for that processed item (for example, orange juice, diced apple in a plastic tub).

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