Who knew there was such a serious debate revolving around orange juice? Apparently the whole carton versus canned issue is a hot topic generating discussion about which option is more earth-friendly. It's probaby a pretty lame joke to call this food for thought, but the truth is, I really haven't spent too much time pondering the issue. I might have to now though and come up with my own standpoint on the issue. Until I form my own opinion, keep reading for Brendan Koerner's thoughts on the matter.

No, changing your mode of orange juice intake isn't going to save the planet, especially since—as we'll soon see—concentrate-filled canisters are hardly an environmental boon. But your OJ quandary provides an excellent opportunity to peek behind the food industry curtain and better grasp the vast amounts of energy that go into everyday luxuries.

For simplicity's sake, let's assume your juice is produced entirely in Florida, using only locally grown oranges. Juice manufactured in the Sunshine State's plants ends up as one of two products: frozen concentrated orange juice (FCOJ), which is then rehydrated by either the supplier or the end user, or not-from-concentrate juice (NFC), which is sold under such brand names as Tropicana Pure Premium.

A serving of not-from-concentrate juice takes up five to six times more space than a serving of dehydrated FCOJ, so the transportation issue you cite certainly can't be ignored. But according to the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences at the University of Florida, making juice uses more energy than getting it into stores. In 2001, for example, it cost a Florida manufacturer roughly 20 cents to process a pound of frozen OJ, but just 7 cents per pound to truck it to the northeastern United States. And when Florida's Natural Growers closed its Bartow, Fla., manufacturing facility in 2005, it cited the soaring cost of natural gas as the reason. (Based on its 7.5-million-gallon capacity and its projected 2006 natural-gas tab of $2.1 million, the Bartow plant would have been responsible for approximately 9,129 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions—about the same as 1,700 cars.)

In the end, not-from-concentrate orange juice sold by the carton comes out slightly ahead of frozen OJ sold by the canister in terms of energy use. As a green consumer, your worst choice would be to buy juice that's been rehydrated by the supplier, then placed in cartons (such as Minute Maid Original). If you prefer juice from concentrate, whether for the lower price or more Tang-y taste, it's better to rehydrate it yourself.

What about squeezing your own OJ? Keep in mind that, unless you live in Florida or California (the nation's No. 2 orange producer), chances are those Valencias traveled a long, long way to get to your grocery aisle. And transporting enough oranges to yield six servings of juice requires nine times more cardboard waste than transporting a 12-ounce canister of FCOJ.

Brenden has many more facts to back up his argument which you can read by hitting the jump.

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