Hey team, and welcome back to one5c! Doing right by the planet is also often a means to do right by your wallet. Trading paper towels for reusable cloths, shopping secondhand, or line drying your duds—all these things can add to hundreds or even thousands of bucks saved every year.
I bring this up now because there’s a serious chance that life’s about to get pricier for most—if not all—of us. Yes, we’re talking tariffs. That got us wondering how the pillars of sustainable eating would fare at the grocery store, so we asked Molly Glick to dig in. —Corinne |
CAN EATING SUSTAINABLY BE TARIFF-PROOF? |
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This week, the Trump administration’s suite of tariffs took effect, including a 25%-er on most imported goods from Canada and Mexico and a 10%-er on wares from China. U.S. supermarket shelves are packed with produce from Mexico, which provided more than half of our fresh veg and fruit imports in 2022. “It’s likely going to lead to higher food prices when people are already struggling,” says Precious Tshabalala, an agricultural economist at the Union of Concerned Scientists.
Fresh produce is a cornerstone of a climate-minded diet, but how will rising prices square with a desire to eat with the planet in mind?
The new tariffs could lead to two scenarios for any imported grub: Consumers will pay higher prices for goods, as companies pass the burden of higher costs down to shoppers, Tshabalala says, worsening an already tricky scenario for lower-income Americans. The other, longer-term path is that companies may start importing produce from other places in Latin America, says Russell Hillberry, an agricultural economist at Purdue University. Take avocados, for example: In 2022, Mexico contributed 74% of all shipments into the U.S., while Peru contributed 10%. That means it’s possible to grab larger chunks from other sources in the coming months or years.
But that’s only part of the picture. In U.S. grocery stores, you can find a mango in the dead of winter—so compared to past decades, we’re far more likely to consume produce shipped thousands of miles instead of from a local farm. “It’s disruptive to food supply chains,” Hillberry says. What does that mean? There’s actually a third scenario if your goal as a shopper is to opt for more Earth-friendly meals. Here are a few things you can consider when minding your bottom line:
Cut down on meat
The price of aluminum will likely rise because we import most of the metal from Canada, with around half of the total aluminum supply coming from abroad. About a quarter of steel crosses borders, as well. Both metals are used in loads of products, including food packaging, so typically wallet-friendly canned goods, like beans and soups, will probably become pricier. That means bulk options like dried beans—particularly domestically grown ones—may become a sweeter deal than ever. Brands like Camellia and Rancho Gordo, for instance, offer up U.S.-grown legumes.
Rethink your snacks
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Molly Glick writes about health, science, and the future. They’re a graduate of The Medill School at Northwestern University, where they studied journalism and environmental policy. They have contributed to Inverse, Discover, and Popular Science, among other publications.
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The latest edition of the Community Power Scorecard, a rating of which states have the best policies for giving people control over their energy, failed most states. Scoring a B, Illinois took the stop spot alongside Washington, D.C. Of the remaining 49 states, 13 scored a C average, 14 received Ds, and 23 states flat-out failed.
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