Buy only Canadian juice (Day 37)

I had another eco-revelation today.  I don't know why this revelation surprised me, because when I think about it, the environmental impact of orange juice is fairly large.  We certainly don't live in a climate that naturally produces oranges - the distance that oranges have to travel from Florida is considerable.  Then there is the environmental impact of the growing, harvesting, processing and delivering of the product to the store.

But it wasn't until a visit to Vanessa's blog, and an entry about OJ, that I really started thinking about it.  In her entry, she reviews a book called Squeezed, by Alissa Hamilton.  Ms Hamilton writes about OJ, its history and manufacture.  The biggest thing that caught my attention was this quote, "Of particular interest to OJ drinkers will be the revelation that most orange juice comes from Brazil, not Florida, and that even “not from concentrate” orange juice is heated, stripped of flavor, stored for up to a year, and then reflavored before it is packaged and sold."  Huh?

My OJ comes from Brazil?  The more I read this blog entry and its comments, the more concerned I became.  I then watched the interview with Ms Hamilton on CBC (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qerc7a_dL_I&feature=player_embedded).  I immediately put the book on my request list at the library.

While I can't give up my morning juice (I drink a small glass to take my medications with), I think I will start looking at juices produced closer to home.  One of Vanessa's readers recommended home grown apple cider - I'm going to check out what's available the next time I'm at the store.