Pineapple from Ecuador better than bell pepper from Westland?

Which has a bigger impact on the environment? A pineapple from Ecuador or a bell pepper from Dutch greenhouses? According to the fruit and veg calendar from information organization Milieu Centraal, environmentally conscious consumers should choose the pineapple over the bell pepper. Year after year, Dutch growers are astonished by this. Researcher Sytske de Waart of Milieu Centraal explains.

Anyone calling themselves a consumer these days isn't just occupied with their own existence, but also with that of their offspring. They too need a world to sustain themselves, and making environmentally conscious decisions is slowly becoming the rule rather than the exception. Unfortunately, that can be difficult sometimes – because how do you know what's really sustainable? In order to make more conscious choices in the fruit and vegetable sector, consumers can consult the Milieu Centraal fruit and veg calendar. And year after year, Dutch greenhouse growers are getting wound up about this. How is it possible that a pomegranate from Iran is seen as more environmentally friendly than the cucumber from Naaldwijk?

Sustainable
How is sustainable actually defined? "That's what it's about", says Sytske de Waart, researcher at Milieu Centraal. During development of the calendar, different factors were looked at: the use of land and energy, and the use of fossil fuels in cultivation, storage, during transport, and in packaging. The figures are supplied by Blonk Consultants. "The pineapple arrives from Ecuador by boat. When you look at the emissions per kilometre per transported weight, the energy use is relatively low." The bell pepper from the Netherlands, on the other hand, comes from heated greenhouses, with the energy use being divided across the entire production. "And the energy use per bell pepper is relatively high, which means produce from far away can score better than local produce."

In addition, it's better to compare fruit with fruit, and vegetables with vegetables, De Waart explains. "We're not advising the replacement of bell pepper, a vegetable, by fruit. We're not deviating from the Nutritional Centre's advice to eat 200 grammes of vegetables and two pieces of fruit." That's precisely why cherry tomatoes from Senegal, Israel, Morocco and Spain are in class B, and the Dutch produce in class C.

Why does the Dutch bell pepper score lower than the Israeli one when it comes to the environment? Sytske de Waart of Milieu Centraal explains. View the fruit and veg calendar here.

Energy-saving measures
This type of outcome has been causing frustrations with the Dutch horticultural sector for years – unhappiness that they do know about at Milieu Centraal. "But we do take into account energy-saving measures," De Waart says. "We applaud those." The use of CHP, for instance. "The energy use decreases, the yield per hectare goes up. In tomato and cucumber, this is used a lot, and you're now seeing vine tomatoes from the Netherlands in class B. That's being rewarded." The use of residual or geothermal heat is also noticeable in the figures. "When fewer fossil fuels are used by the sector, you notice that in the averages." That means they have to base themselves on averages. "When growers distinguish themselves, they can position themselves through their own packaging."

Water use and crop protection
The fruit and veg calendar also has limitations, De Waart admits. Water use and the deployment of crop protection aren't taken into account. "Compared to foreign growers, Dutch growers often do very well in this area, but we don't have enough data for that," she explains. "We need additional information for that first. It simply doesn't exist." An explanation can be found on the Milieu Centraal website. "We refer consumers to it on the calendar."

View the fruit and veg calendar here.