When we cannot see everything, we see nothing
Consuming fresh raspberries out of season means multiplying their impact by 3 or even 5.
Mostly imported from Spain, by plane from Morocco or other countries of the southern hemisphere, their presence on the market of northern European countries has a considerable impact.
The conclusions of Glimpact's analysis, carried out according to the PEF method (adopted by the EC), are based on data from a representative sample of commonly observed products. Therefore, they do not take into account the specificities of production conditions or means of production.
In France, the peak season for raspberries is from July to August. Although it is possible to find earlier and later varieties, raspberries on the market in winter or spring are rarely produced in the field, and even less so in France. It is therefore preferable to save this little pleasure for the summer. We explain why.
Indeed, the winter presence of this fruit on the French market most often reflects an import. These raspberries mainly come from countries where the climate is milder and more compatible with the good development of the plant, such as Morocco or Spain. Often imported by plane, their results are catastrophic. Moreover, although conditions are better in southern countries, production under glass (sometimes heated) is not excluded and adds to the impact of these fruits.
And what about frozen raspberries? Would this be a good alternative for the biggest fans who cannot wait for the return of the good weather? At the risk of disappointing you, it is unfortunately not the ideal solution since 36% of frozen raspberries on the French market come from Serbia, France's main supplier.
According to the PEF method adopted by the EC, the environmental impact should take into account 16 impact categories. It is defined by a score that aggregates the different results obtained for each impact by normalisation and weighting. This score is expressed in points (Pt) on a continuous scale, it allows products to be compared with each other.
Let's get back to the numbers. The graph below compares the global environmental impact (per kilogram) of fresh (blue), greenhouse (orange) and frozen raspberries in different countries. The impact of apple consumption is also shown in green.
For the same quantity, winter raspberries eaten fresh are 3 to 5 times more impactful than French raspberries produced in season (open field).
At best in the environmental sense, winter raspberries arrive from Morocco by plane, where the climate is milder and allows raspberries to be produced over a longer period than the short French season.
In the worst case, the raspberries arrive from much further away, namely from countries in the southern hemisphere where the seasons are reversed. In this scenario, we can see that most of the impact of these imported raspberries comes from the additional transport (often by plane) needed to get them there.
In an intermediate situation, we find raspberries produced in a border country like Spain, under heated greenhouses. In this case, almost 50% of the environmental impact of the production of the fruit is due to the energy needed to heat the greenhouses, to which is added the production of the greenhouse structure (contribution of about 25%).
Finally, let us return to frozen raspberries. Imported mainly from Serbia, frozen raspberries have more than twice the impact of seasonal raspberries. They have a lower impact than fresh raspberries imported from Spain, Morocco or further afield, but this is independent of the taste quality and use of the product.
The best thing to do would be to avoid raspberries in winter (or any raspberry product for that matter).
There is only one solution: while waiting for the bright pink of seasonal raspberries to come back on the market, why not let yourself be seduced by the range of colours offered by apples (a winter fruit of which France is one of the leading suppliers)? Its much lower score would allow you to reduce the environmental impact of your sweet break...
The environmental impact calculated does not take into account the use phase (refrigerated storage of the consumer, cooking, washing of utensils and dishes necessary for preparation). The results were reported per kilogram of fruit without taking into account the nutritional issues that are not of the same nature as environmental issues. This is the so-called functional unit for impact assessment. This definition is the most common and objective, but other units could be considered, which would in this case be much more questionable.
