LITTLE MARAIS, Minn., June 30 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The following was released today by the Organic Consumers Association:

Every day millions of American consumers purchase food from grocery store chains without giving much thought to the oil and energy resources involved in chemical-intensive industrial agriculture and long distance food transportation. To promote health, sustainability, and Fair Trade, and to reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil and non-renewable energy sources, the Organic Consumer's Association -- http://www.organicconsumers.org -- has launched a new consumer education campaign called Breaking the Chains: Buy Local, Organic and Fair Made.

Agriculture directly accounts for 17 percent of all the energy used in the U.S. Petroleum-derived agricultural chemicals such as synthetic fertilizers (12 billion pounds per year), pesticides and herbicides (a billion pounds per year), account for more than half of all on-farm energy use. According to the Earth Policy Institute, the U.S. food system, from actual food production (synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, etc.), energy for irrigation, transportation, to refrigeration packaging & preparation, uses enough energy equal to supply all of France's annual energy needs.

Food today travels farther than ever, with the average item of food traveling an average of 1,600 miles from farm to fork. Processed foods, on average travel 3,600 miles from farm to fork. As food travels farther, energy use soars. According to Brian Halweil of Worldwatch Institute, a typical meal bought from a conventional supermarket chain uses four to 17 times more petroleum for transport than the same meal using locally produced ingredients. As a result the food industry is dependent on cheap, imported petroleum products, which are getting more expensive by the day. Oil prices have recently moved above $60 a barrel mark, a record, as robust U.S.

demand, apparently unimpeded by high fuel costs, strains global production and refining capacity.

But even with a major reduction in food transportation mileage, rising oil prices will inevitably inflate food prices, unless food is grown organically (without synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, etc.). When food is produced organically, the need for pesticides and synthetic fertilizers, which require oil to manufacture, is eliminated. High prices for natural gas in the United States have increased the cost of nitrogen fertilizer by more than 40 percent in the past two years. As a result of increased production costs for U.S. food, more and more wholesalers, manufacturers and retail chains are turning abroad for their food purchases.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the U.S. now imports more agricultural goods than it exports.

The choice facing Americans is clear. Buying local and organic foods over the long term will result in a more sustainable food distribution system we can afford, even as oil prices continue to rise. By encouraging consumers to buy local, organic, and Fair Made, we can improve public health, preserve the environment, and reduce the nation's dependence on foreign oil.

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