Eat frozen food, says scientific study

Now Here Comes the Science Bit

Eco-professors looking into the effect food production has on our environment have announced some stats that may surprise.

The scientists from Sweden, Oregon and Chile have released a paper concluding that we should be buying frozen food to save the world! The eco-scientists chose salmon as their study subject because it is sourced both from the sea and from fish farms so this makes it possible for an accurate comparison. Also, because Salmon is sold all round the globe the study was able to make comparisons in the effects of carbon emissions during transport.

The scientists announced that it can be more environmentally friendly to eat frozen salmon than fresh salmon in the Journal Environmental Science and Technology, and that netting large quantities of fish can do less damage to the planet than fishing with hooks and lines.

The scientists also reveal new insights to old topics and the issue of ‘food miles’ is not as straight forward as it is often made out as a result. It is possible for example for foods to have many food miles but also to have a low carbon foot print if it is shipped. Whereas foods that arrive via road networks and by air freight have been transported in an efficient manner. So, it can be better to eat frozen food from Brazil than fresh food Bristol! To read more about fishing techniques used for frozen fish click here. The scientists go on to say that, when it comes to saving the world, choosing frozen might matter more than the choosing between organic and conventional or choosing between wild and farmed. The study goes on…

“Container ships are by far the most efficient and carbon-friendly way to transport food. Globally, the majority of salmon fillets are currently consumed fresh and never frozen. In fish-loving Japan, which gets much of its fish by air, switching to 75 percent frozen salmon would have more benefit than all of Europe eating locally farmed salmon.” ¹

The study goes on to say that “Catching salmon in large nets as they school together has one tenth the impact of catching them in small numbers using baited hooks and lures.” ¹

They reached this conclusion because catching fish in large shoals and freezing them at sea is a carbon efficient way of catching fish.

Frozen Food Gets the Thumbs Up

The United Nations say...

In support of the benefits to the environment frozen food can play, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations have recently declared that “When it comes to taste and nutrition, frozen as a method of long-term preservation is generally regarded as superior to canning and dehydration” ²

So, in an age of ‘choosing local' and 'buying organic' perhaps they are suggesting the dawn of a new ice age with ‘Buy Frozen’!

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<sup>1 Science Daily. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091124152803.htm

2 Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations http://www.fao.org/docrep/008/y5979e/y5979e03.htm

The study, Not All Salmon Are Created Equal: Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of Global Salmon Farming Systems, is published – http://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/es9010114
in the journal Environmental Science and Technology</sup>