Gordon Ramsay has announced that restaurants in UK should be fined for not exclusively using local, in season produce in their menus. He's kicked up a bit of a media storm. UK farmers, unsurprisingly, are backing him whole heartedly. Of course they are. But where does that leave the Kenya export vegetable market?
If there was an ounce of sense in the argument that if we stop flying beans from Kenya now, global warming or climate change might be halted - I might understand what Gordon Ramsay was trying to do. I apologise to any readers who have already been exposed to my rantings on the subject - but this is maddening!
Farmers in Africa have a minimal carbon footprint. They recycle everything and own comparatively few possessions, leading simple lives (an example that people in the west would do well to follow). They don't own cars and vans, they don't have petrol guzzling machinery and they use the sun to grow their produce. They don't need artificially heated greenhouses either. The carbon footprint of a UK farmer who receives subsidies is vast compared to their African counterpart who is on the breadline - so tell me why is it so much greener to buy local?
Is 'buying local' in UK from farmers who distribute their produce uneconomically in mini vans, really preferable to buying African produce, packed efficiently onto an aeroplane (sometimes they fill the hold of tourist planes which would otherwise be wasted space). Please, somebody, lets do a carbon footprint comparison? In addition, don't forget the Kenyan farmers need a foreign market to sell to! We are supposed to be helping Africa remember?! Without a foreign market the developing countries will have no chance of attaining wealth.
It would be great if someone would do a bit of worthwhile research and finally settle this 'food miles' debate. The media loves to dedicate so many column inches to it, but they never make conclusions giving people like Gordon Ramsay the chance to wax lyrical on a subject that he evidently has not fully grasped!
BTW - quite funny that the media backlash was the instant discovery that GR's own restaurants are guilty of using non local, out of season produce. I wonder if he feels he has put his foot in his mouth rather? Lets hope so.
The diary of a British expat living in Kenya. News, views, debate and a healthy dose of trivia.
thanks for your blog once again. I dont think what Gordon Ramsay is saying has any substance. He really pissed me off when he talked of not wanting to see Kenyan strawberies on UK menus in March! What a hypocrite. Even his fellow so called Celeb chefs disagreed with him. Anthony Worral Thomson printed one of his menus and on scrutinising the ingredients there was little truth in what GR was saying. Apparently he runs a resturant in Dubai, does he also get all the fresh ingredients for his Dubai resturants locally? Surely those supporting such a short sighted argument or arguments as far as the carbon foot print is concerned have never been to Kenya.. I dont think they understand how the food is produced and grown over there in Kenya. Actually if you were to do a net carbon foot print for the entire population then compare it to that of those of us living here in the UK one will be shocked. The supermarkets here are still full of thousands of thin plastic bags, the roads are at their capacity, we walk less and use the car more here, coupled with all the domestic appliances, the heating and you end up with an embarrasing cocktail of that harmful carbon. Let the Gordon Ramsay's of this world seek their media attention elsewhere!
ReplyDeleteI am in complete complete agreement with you on the food miles debate. Its utterly hypocritical of western environmentalist.
ReplyDeleteI'm still loving your blog by the way.
anyway ! to add my little worth of a comment, How much space is left in the UK that can produce enough food for the entire population?.Food imports are a matter of survival.What would happen if the world stopped using british companies and manufactured products?,barclays,landrover etc! would it worth it to be local?.anyway,people in africa can grow their food in their tiny farms and eat it,they dont need so much the so called 'modern lifestyle'' of cars and banking etc.Maybe if it was a Russian saying so, it would be understandable,as they have too much land and an empty population,but still import most food!
ReplyDeleteyes, the Kenyan farmer has to be helped by us in Britain - because his own government (circus?) can't be bothered.
ReplyDeletethere is though a serious point to what Gordon Ramsay said and I think this is going to become a bigger issue: we - all of us, wherever we are - need to be better educated about our own local foods and seasonality; local farmers first - and food tastes better and costs less if eaten in season. yes, yes, if we relied only on our turnips and cabbage here in the UK, there'd be very little on the menu but at the same time most people in the UK under, say, 40 know now almost no useful food facts and GR's admittedly ill thought out comments are going to be part of a wider discussion about food security, supporting local work, freshness etc. that is overdue.
by the way (and i ask this as someone from Kenya) what is the relevant Kenyan minsiter and his PS doing about subsidised foods being imported into the country legally and illegaly?
I think there has to be balance. I buy Colorado raised Tilapia, not China raised. But it snowed here last night. So I don't care where my bananas come from, and I don't want Gordan making me feel bad about it. I do believe if everyone takes a baby step it helps the whole. There will always be resource poor countries like our soon to be home in Jordan (Or like the Dubai example above) who will always have a need to import food. So, I'll buy my olives and flowers from Jordan and hope that little bit puts some good karma out in the world.
ReplyDeleteActually, his basic point about a return to seasonality and local production in our food industries is 100% sensible and 100% not going to happen while imports are cheaper.
ReplyDeleteIf there were proper consumer seasonality at the market end there would be no need for heated greenhouses or cheap rural-poor produced produce flown half way around the world.
None of this is ethically led anyway, it's all about the market and, as our weekly family shop shoots up in price, I'll buy from wherever is cheapest whether that's Africa or not.
Hey, thanks for this post - such an interesting point - so many people in the UK just assume that it must be more green & ethical to buy local without really stopping to consider whether this makes sense. A friend of mine works for Friends of the Earth so I sent her the link to your blog and asked her what FoE would advocate... I'll let you know if I hear back! While I'm here - I've been reading your blog for a while and love it - really witty, intelligent and thought-provoking but still down to earth! Thanks.
ReplyDeleteIst time here, and I'm sorry if I take over this post, not intentional.
ReplyDeleteI'm for the idea of consuming locally while still fresh. But having said that, with a pupolation of almost 60m, UK will still import. If GR does not agree, sod him, there's thousands others who will.
What bothers me most though, is that these farmers do not reap the benefit even when they export. There are those 'elite' that do, and have the tendency of even choosing which farmers' produce should be exported yet they are of the same quality.
A while ago, I read an article that stated that Kenya was importing sugar from Ethiopia while sugar cane was rotting in the fields in Kenya for some reason. The goverment should look into issues like this and help the local farmer so that locals can benefit from the produce, which to me, will also benefit the local farmer.
I try to use Kenyan produce in UK but they are expensive. Small things like Roiko, Ksh58.00 cost £3.00-4.00, a comb of maize for £1.00, Njahi goes for £5.00 a kilo. And who is benefiting?