Did you know that when you enjoy fresh berries year-round, you’re participating in one of the most complex global networks ever created? The modern food systems today cross oceans and defy seasons to bring us the tastiest foods. But this convenience comes with a hidden cost: many of our everyday foods have logged more frequent flyer miles than most world travelers before landing on our dinner tables. Today, we’re bringing you the 10 foods that traveled thousands of miles to your plate.
10. Indian Spices
The spices that you enjoy, like cardamom and turmeric, traveled 6,000-9,000 miles from India. What’s fascinating is that these trade routes are thousands of years old, but globalization made use of modern ships and planes. Like what’s taught in school, Indian spices reach world markets through complex networks, even though they’re small and light as a feather. Millions of pounds get shipped globally every year that end up in kitchens everywhere.
9. Brazilian Coffee
Brazilian coffee beans travel 4,000-8,000 miles to reach coffee shops and stores worldwide. As the world’s biggest coffee producer, Brazil sends beans to North America, Europe, and Asia. Coffee lasts a long time when dried, so it can travel slowly by ship. But the beans often go through many steps and trips before ending up as coffee in cafes thousands of miles from where they grew.
8. New Zealand Apples
New Zealand apples travel over 11,000 miles to reach stores in Europe and North America when local apples aren’t in season. These apples are picked in New Zealand’s fall (March-May) and stored or shipped to give people fresh fruit during winter and spring. The long trip requires special storage tricks and shipping methods to keep apples crisp and tasty across months of travel.
7. Norwegian Salmon
Farm-raised salmon from Norway’s cold waters travels 3,000-9,000 miles to reach markets across Europe, Asia, and the Americas. You can find Norwegian salmon in Japanese sushi bars and American grocery stores. The fish travels in special refrigerated containers designed to keep it fresh across these huge distances. Norway has built a complex system to get their salmon to compete in markets thousands of miles away.
6. Australian Beef
Australian beef travels some of the longest distances of any meat, often covering 8,000-12,000 miles to reach dinner plates in Asia, North America, and the Middle East. A steak eaten in Tokyo or Los Angeles might have been raised on huge Australian cattle farms and shipped across the Pacific Ocean. Australia has created special ways to keep meat fresh during these extra long trips.
5. Quinoa from the Andes
This trendy superfood travels from Bolivia and Peru to health stores around the world, covering 5,000-7,000 miles. The huge demand for quinoa has changed life in these mountain regions, making prices go up and changing how farmers grow their crops. The tiny grains are harvested high in the mountains, processed in remote places, then shipped across continents to reach your bowl.
4. Peruvian Asparagus
Peru has become a major supplier of fresh asparagus to North America and Europe, traveling 4,000-6,000 miles. Peruvian asparagus is available all year because of the country’s different climate zones, filling in when other asparagus-growing areas are out of season. They’re shipped by airplane to stay fresh, making it one of the most polluting vegetables to transport.
3. Tropical Fruits Year-Round
Bananas from Ecuador, pineapples from Costa Rica, and mangoes from Thailand travel 4,000-10,000 miles to reach stores worldwide. Bananas are picked when they’re still green and turn yellow during their trip or after they arrive. A banana eaten in Europe has usually traveled about 5,000 miles from Central or South America. With this, special ships are built just to carry these fruits while keeping them fresh across huge distances.
2. Out-of-Season Berries
When you eat fresh strawberries in January or blueberries in March, they probably came from Chile, Argentina, or New Zealand. These countries grow berries during our winter and ship them 5,000-7,000 miles by airplane to keep them fresh. Since berries go bad quickly, they often travel by air, making them one of the worst foods for the environment.
1. Avocados
That perfect avocado toast probably started in Mexico, Peru, or Chile before traveling thousands of miles to your local store. Mexican avocados travel about 2,000 miles to reach U.S. shoppers, while those from Peru or Chile can travel 4,000-8,000 miles. We can now get avocados year-round because different countries grow them at different times.