>A bit OT: a lot people don't realize that moving large quantities
>of stuff by ship is dirt cheap, in terms of both money and energy.

Yes, I keep attempting to remind people that it should be 'food-ton-miles' 
not 'food miles'

>Many many times cheaper than shipping by truck or rail (even though
>those aren't expensive, either). It makes perfect sense to grow
>oranges in places where the climate is favorable, and ship them
>to areas where it isn't.

Err, yes but ...

An example I give against this is apricots grown in Spain, and shipped to 
the UK. They arrive an insipid pale colour, and as afar as I can determine 
it is because the apricot trees do not go through a suitable deep winter 
chill in Spain, to produce the best fruit. Instead of nice deep apricot 
coloured juicy fruit we have to put up with less juicy and less appetising 
looking fruit - although we seem to be able to get them all year round, 
almost.

An example that gets given for sending things long distance is flowers grown 
in Kenya, and airfreighted to the UK. The total carbon cost is less than 
similar flowers grown in the Netherlands and sent to the UK - because the 
Netherlands requires heated glasshouses to grow the flowers, while Kenya 
doesn't. 

-- 
http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive
View/change your membership options at
http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist