In spite of risking boring readers stupid, I have decided to smugly quote at length from a tiny news clipping dated 22nd May taken from the UK Daily Telegraph (that my mum kindly sent me) that is entitled:
'End Food Miles Hypocisy, retailers told' by Harry Wallop, Consumer Affairs Correspondent
'The food miles myth has been debunked in a new report which warns consumers they could be doing more harm to the environment than good by shunning air-freighted goods.
The report by the Food Ethics Council also says supermarkets should stop being 'carbon hypocrites' about their ethical policies. If too much air-freighted food is banned from the shelves of UK supermarkets, then of thousands of livelihoods could be wiped out in Africa it says.
The think-tank points out that air-freighted food is far less damaging to the environment than home-grown meat and dairy produce, because of the intensive and energy consuming nature of much of British farming and calls on supermarkets to end 'carbon hypocrisy'.
The report does not name any individual grocery chains. However, both Tesco and Marks & Spencer have put stickers of an aeroplane on food that has been flown into the UK.'
My friend in UK emailed me to say that these days with possible recession looming and the credit crunch, the majority of British shoppers are looking for best value for money and a good quality product. Chosing to buy 'local' and therefore pay more is really only the preserve of the wealthy and unrealistic for most, so there shouldn't be too much danger of air-freighted products being boycotted on any great scale. However, it's great news that the 'Food Ethics Council' has spoken out and I feel a little vindicated in my boring old argument persuade you all to; 'BUY KENYAN!' Shame it wasn't front page news..
The diary of a British expat living in Kenya. News, views, debate and a healthy dose of trivia.
4 comments:
Thanks to you I got tuned into the food-miles controversy and I fully agree with you that it is sheer hypocrisy to shun flown food when advocating food grown under lamps in artificially heated greenhouses.
Frances(sp?) After living as an expat in Kenya for several years I support Kenya by buying veggies grown in Naivasha.
I`m enjoying your blogs, even though we lived down on the Tana I am familiar with much of what you write, I`ve got friends in Nairobi.
Best wishes,
Pat.
Just a thought maybe the Kenyan growers instead of fighting it should join them. No I am not advocating uprooting crops and refusing to ship product. They should buy carbon credits, and put "carbon neutral" or even "carbon plus" stickers on their product. The carbon offsets could be, planting trees, solar panels, support the Mara,etc. They could then charge a higher price for the "ecoaware" product, and leave the "non-eco-aware" product at the current price. Watch the stuff fly of the shelves.
Sort of what the food industry did with "reduced fat", "low fat" salad dressings, deserts. The deserts still fly off the shelf, and in some cases even more than before. Two "reduced fat" choclate sundaes, are still two choclate sundaes!!
The difference is two extra helpings of green beans, are actually better for the consumer and the planet!!
It always amazes me how much the media must be under pressure to fill column inches in England. The sheer number of pages in the weekend newspapers is staggering. Often television newreaders must scrape the barrel to find something to say having promised minute to minute bulletins. Meanwhile the population there are exposed to the media barrage telling them what to do and how to live all the time.
I think that the 'food miles' debate was probably dreamt up by some journalist plucking at the air for in desperation for a story.... we will never know, but lets hope that it hasn't done too much lasting damage.
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