It’s a mantra in the world of sustainable food — local is always better.
That rule doesn’t apply to peas, canola, wheat and likely other crops grown in Western Canada.
Researchers from the University of British Columbia say their study, published in Nature Food, has concluded that Europeans could reduce greenhouse gas emissions from crop production if they imported peas, canola and wheat from Canada.
The greenhouse gas emissions from Canadian crops were significantly lower than European emissions for the same crops.
When the emissions from Canadian canola were compared to growing rapeseed in Germany, for instance, the Canadian canola could be shipped to Europe 17 times before the amount of greenhouse gas was equal to emissions from the German rapeseed crop.
For Canadian peas, it could be shipped to Europe 14 times and still have lower emissions than a pea crop in Germany.
