FOOD MILES

You may have realised from last month’s column that I like to support local food producers.  I would like to say my reasons are altruistic, but mainly they are selfish!  The taste of meat from a proper butcher is unsurpassed. Fruit and veg (eaten in their proper season) may have dirt on them and be irregularly shaped, but taste so much better and, on the whole, are not full of chemicals and preservatives. But perhaps more importantly in these days of “Kyoto Agreements” and the like, local produce can be kinder to the environment.  If I can be allowed to plagiarise an article from a recent Sunday paper I can illustrate the point:

Take a Sunday roast consisting of leg of lamb roasted with garlic, onions and rosemary, with green beans, carrot and roast potatoes.  Purchased from one of our leading supermarket chains the ingredients had travelled 21,000 miles (eg lamb from New Zealand, beans from Kenya, carrots from South Africa, garlic from Spain).  Total cost £21.12.  The same ingredients purchased from some local shops had travelled 1,050 miles (eg lamb from Scotland, all vegetable from the UK but having travelled 650 miles in total).  Total cost £21.35.  Ingredients bought from a farmers’ market had travelled 119 miles (eg all vegetables from the same farm 18 miles away, lamb from an organic farm 100 miles away and rosemary from the garden).  Total cost £17.46. 

But that is not the whole story. At every step along the way, the further we are away from the producer of our food, the more middle-men get some of what we pay for - and here is the crunch - the more fuel is used by us and the suppliers.  When we choose to eat things that are produced further away, our eating habits are increasing pressure on our environment. Everything from increased traffic polluting our homes, plastic wrapping (and don’t get me started on packaging!), and increased fuel bills for our own use of cars.

I do understand that not all our lifestyles make it easy for us to find the time to visit our local shops when a trip to the supermarket is far easier. But if you get a chance please support our local traders and farmers. Believe me, there is a big difference. Personally I could never eat meat from a supermarket again! If you want to know more about “food miles” I have included some links (below) that you may find interesting.

But enough of all this seriousness.  ’Tis the season to be jolly after all.  I hope you have a very happy Christmas and a happy and healthy New Year.
Lis Heriz-Smith