The Hidden Costs of a Turkey Club

    Who knew one of America’s delicacy items, the Turkey Club, could have such an environmental impact? Some of the classic ingredients of the sandwich include turkey, bacon, and a special addition of ham. These products were bought at a local grocery store, ALDI. The bacon is produced from Aldi’s Appleton Farms which is sourced from pigs inside the U.S. Controversy struck recently that the bacon may be made from cells inside a lab. But who knows? The ham is an ALDI brand and is said to come from regional farms near the area. As for the turkey, I went with the Hillshire brand which is said to be produced with authentic turkey raised with no hormones. Bacon and ham productions are quite similar as they come from the same animal and possibly from the same farm. The production of one slice of bacon is also the production of manure, which ends up being 80 times the weight of the strip! On these industrial pig farms, manure is stored in large open-air spaces and then sprayed into nearby fields. This manure is unable to absorb the available land and therefore causes manure pollution which leaks into groundwater and the surrounding soil. The following resource sheds light as to just how much trouble bacon is causing for the environment: https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/takeextinctionoffyourplate/extinction_facts/pdfs/BaconFactsheet.pdf.  

*Image depicts the amount of waste produced by pics and the effects on environmental land

Hillshire turkey goes through a process of collecting the turkey, slaughtering it, and then producing it. This process leads to environmental issues such as major energy consumption in both transportation and processing and pollution from animal waste runoff. Taking this a step further, bacon and ham production often use nitrogen-based fertilizers which rely on various fossil fuels in things such as machinery, irrigation, and even transportation. This in turn leads to greater greenhouse and methane emissions. Pigs and turkeys contribute to these methane emissions through their digestive process. The processes of growing feed crops for the animals (especially pigs), transporting the animals and meats, as well as operating in processing facilities all contribute to increasing levels of CO2 and greenhouse gases. There is a significant increase and a wide range of habitat loss, water use, and manure spread. The article above goes into detail and reveals the specific numbers of just how much.

    This impact is more local than we think. Much of the land that is used for production or affected by the spread of manure is situated in Wisconsin and a large portion of the Midwest region. Also, some residential areas near Hillshire headquarters or other plants are equally affected due to the emissions. Ultimately, the places bearing the most impact are the ones where this meat production is most dominant. Some global impacts may include the packing and recycling of the meats and where they eventually end up. 

    Now that the production of the ingredients has been summed up, let’s get into the transportation, distribution, and consumption of these items. All of the ingredients for the meal were bought in ALDI. The ingredients that would be considered “more local” are the vegetables, bacon, and ham. All of these items come from local farms nearby or in the state itself. The items like turkey, salt, pepper, and mayo are from further away because they are made from generic brands that have different plants and facilities all over the country. Many ingredients of this meal were left over in their packaging but there will come a day when they are tossed. Most of the items came from plastic packaging. The bacon came in a vacuum-sealed bag. After spending some time with this packaging, I have since learned that only certain parts of the packaging can be recycled but due to the weight of the packaging itself, it does not do too much harm to the environment. But, when they are tossed improperly, they often end up in landfills or incinerated into the environment. The other meats, such as the turkey come in a plastic container that can be reused for storing other items. If not tossed properly, these can be found in landfill areas like the oceans and other parts of the environment. It should also be mentioned that they are not easily decomposable! We also have to consider the production and the effects on the environment that go into making plastic packaging.

    Ultimately, the process of these ingredients getting to us takes more of a toll on the environment than we can imagine. Ecosystems are affected in many ways through an increase in greenhouse gases, water pollution, soil erosion, air pollution, and animal welfare. It certainly makes me think twice about making a turkey club again. In the following article https://woods.stanford.edu/news/meats-environmental-impact, Standford Woods Institute for the Environment provides an excellent analysis of meat’s environmental impact as well as solutions for a better environment. 

*This chart is meant to represent the transportation of pigs/ hogs and where many of them are being bought