In the following I want to describe my working methods and how I dealt with the task we had.

First I looked for general information on our theme “The apple as a symbol of globalization?” and then collected them in a word document. I made catchwords of my information for a better overview.

After that I specialized in sub themes like several countries and put the information into the word document. Before I started to write a text, I sorted out needless information and made also catchwords. Then I started to think about the construction of my article and so I decided, to split my article up, because it’s easier to read several passages. With my catchwords it was easy to write a text.

I think I’ve figured out my method because I always work on articles or texts for school like this. Because of that I’m satisfied with my article concerning method.

 Today we had the task to find information about the different origins of the apples in our supermarket. In the following I will compare the countries and try to answer the question, if the apple is a symbol of globalization.

First I found some general information. Since the growing globalization Germany is the leading export country. Although Germany has many growing areas for example in Baden-Württemberg, Sachsen-Anhalt and the “Old Land“ and many species of apples, there are also apples from all over the world. So why do so many Germans buy these apples?

Several surveys showed, that the Germans want to help their area and also the jobs. But only few consumers pay attention to the origin of the products. Most of them have no idea of the CO2- emission the transports cause. The export from Italy for example causes a emission three times higher than the emission from a transport inside of Germany.

Now there is the idea to create a logo for products in the supermarket, which shows the emission. With this logo the consumers have the opportunity to compare the apples. Another reason for this logo is, that the industry would mind the transport ways and maybe that the consumers would buy more local cultivated apples.

Facts and numbers from Südtirol

Nearly every tenth apple eaten in Europe is cultivated in Südtirol. In Kaltern for example 30.000 apples p.a. are harvested. In the whole area there are 2.344.720 fruit trees at 837,4 hectare, which means, that the harvest is 40.000 kg apples per hectare. 50% of the apples will be exported.

Facts about the “Old Land“

In the “Old Land“ the harvest averages about 120.000t p.a. It’s the biggest coherent fruit growing area in Central Europe. The area has a size of 14.300 hectar.

Some information about Argentina

Although 90% of the Germans want to buy more fruits cultivated in their area, the export from Argentina tripled in the last five years.

Many organic-farmers live in Argentina, although Argentina has no market for organic products. Because of that fact, Europe and the USA are the main customers.

An example for the journey of an apple: From Rio Negro to our supermarkets

The journey of the apples which will travel about 13.000 km far begins in Rio Negro, a city in Argentina. The oftentimes controlled apples are harvested and packed in boxes. Now they are cooled down to -4°C and then stored at 0°C until they arrive in the supermarket. The apples are shipped in a 17 days long journey to Rotterdam habour, which costs 10 cent per kg apples. The transport causes 163 g CO2 per kg apples (compare: a new car causes 160 g CO2 per km). From there they are brought by trucks to the supermarkets.

Globalization?!

I think the apple is a good symbol of globalization, because it’s a part of the world trade. And as I already mentioned the import grows more and more. Although the reasons are incomprehensible, the people buy more and more apples from countries like Argentina or New Zealand.

But there are some studies saying that the trend goes to products from regional farmers. Because of that some firms like Eosta, which supplies supermarkets like Edeka, Lidl and Aldi, created an environmental protection program. This program spends money for reforestation in Indonesia’s rain forest. It’s possible, because the workers in countries like Argentina are cheaper than the workers in Germany.

I think in the globalization question there is no real answer what to do as a consumer. Therefore the question still is: Shall I support the regional farmers and buy an apple, which maybe causes more CO2 emission, because of the storage, or shall I buy the apple from Argentina, which causes less emission and supports an environmental protection program?

Today we talked about globalization and the transports of fruit. Mr. Donath brought two apples with him, one from New Zealand and one from Altes Land (“Old Land”).

In the following text I want to show the differences between the transports of the two apples and I try to answer, which apple I would buy.

At first some facts about the Old Land, which is a marsh area near Hamburg at Elbe river . It’s about 33 km long and 8 km wide and famous for its fruit-growing. The most farmers cultivate apples like Jonagold apples.

The in autumn harvested apples are transported by a truck to a cold storage house. Sometimes they stay there for month because even in winter or spring people want to buy apples which were cultivated in the region. If the apples are needed, they are brought by truck to a supermarket and sold there, mostly beside apples from another countries.

Now I want to have a look at a New Zealand apple.

 The apples have a long journey before they arrive in our supermarkets. After the harvest they are transported by trucks to cold storage houses or are directly brougt in containers to get shipped to a big habour in Europe like Rotterdam or Hamburg. After that the apples stay in cold storage houses for a short time or are directly brought to supermarkets. Mostly the journey from field to the supermarket lasts two to four weeks.

The question, which apple I would prefer is hard to answer. The costs are equal and the energy needs are nearly the same (astonishing: the energy need for German apples is higher because of the long storage).

In spring the German apple is nearly a half year old, whereas the New Zealand apple is just a few weeks old. So I think I would buy the apple from New Zealand.

In autumn I would buy the German apple because of the shorter ways and the little storage. 

Thanks for reading,

Anke

I really like all of the presented topics, because all of them are current issues for example in the news.

Because of this it’s interesting and we can use many different sources.

Especially I like the topic “Africa”. In my opinion the continent has so different countrysides, standards of living, cultures and histories, that it won’t be too one-sided and boring. 

I think even if someone doesn’t like geography or history, we all will find a theme, which we will work on for interest.

Greetings, Anke