Impacts of a borderless society

We live in a world where geographic boundaries cease to existwhen it comes to goods, services, and even food. We think nothingof having freshly squeezed orange juice or kiwis for breakfast,even if we live in New York City with 10-inches of snow on theground in the middle of January. We live in an age where everythingand anything is available for consumption year-round at your localgrocery store. Convenience comes with potentially major ecologicaland economic impacts that are both positive and negative. Forexample, the coffee you drink may come from beans imported fromColumbia, the sugar you use may come from India, or the steaks yousear on the grill may have come from Argentina. How much fuel wasspent transporting these products across the ocean? Were anypesticides used? If so, was it done in a sustainable fashion? Wereforests cleared to make room for grazing herds or largeragricultural fields? These are just a few of the many questions weshould be asking ourselves when we make our selections at thegrocery store.