Whatever happened to... Food miles?

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 CantClimbTom 17 Oct 2022

Food miles, very fashionable to discuss at one point. I'm not seeing so much concern for it these days. Was it a bandwagon people jumped on then it fell out of fashion?

I was in the co-op, they have supported some environmental issues before... so I was surprised that there were only 2 types of apples in stock in my local shop. Pink Lady from South Africa or Braeburn from New Zealand. At this time of the year, wouldn't there be lots of local produce?

Just a shame that the ideas about food miles seems to have been put on a back burner?

Post edited at 21:01
 Philip 17 Oct 2022
In reply to CantClimbTom:

Try Riverford. Mostly UK produce and never anything by air.

In reply to CantClimbTom:

Are you sure the language hasn’t just changed a bit? Plenty of voices calling for people to shop locally, sustainably, reduce emissions, carbon footprint etc.

OP CantClimbTom 17 Oct 2022
In reply to CantClimbTom:

Sorry but I've got co-op and Lidl as my nearest and Tesco and Sainsbury's further but within long walking distance not sure of any Riverfords in my area, but good for them if they support local produce! There is one farm shop near ish to me and I should use it more, but I was just disappointed that food miles seems a bit of a niche concern these days

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 mrphilipoldham 17 Oct 2022
In reply to CantClimbTom:

Avocados became popular and everyone decided it was probably better to keep quiet. 

OP CantClimbTom 17 Oct 2022
In reply to Stuart Williams:

Could be that I'm just out of date on my buzzwords, but shopping locally... for NZ produce isn't joined up thinking (not suggesting you are doing that, but some people are)

Post edited at 21:10
OP CantClimbTom 17 Oct 2022
In reply to mrphilipoldham:

Yuk, disgusting things. They are made by reconstituting lumps of green hand soap collected from public toilets. The big supermarkets try to keep that quiet but we know the *truth*

Post edited at 21:13
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In reply to CantClimbTom:

Riverford deliver veg boxes, they aren’t a supermarket. Massive national supermarket chains have never really been a good place to shop if you want local produce.

> There is one farm shop near ish to me and I should use it more, but I was just disappointed that food miles seems a bit of a niche concern these days

You’ve probably answered your own question here though. Given the choice of buying local produce you choose to buy imported stuff from the massive national chain instead. We can discuss food miles etc all you want, but if that discussion isn’t reflected in purchasing habits then the supermarkets aren’t going to change what they sell. (I’m far from a saint in this regard, in case it sounds like I’m being judgemental)

Post edited at 21:28
 Forest Dump 17 Oct 2022
In reply to CantClimbTom:

Food miles isn't clear cut on carbon as land use, agri techniques, processing and logistics all feed in to the final co2 figure. A bigger (easier evidenced) plus is keeping the money local..

In the grand sustainability scheme of things it's compatible to the no plastic thing, an overly simplified single issue to help us feel we're doing something about sustainability..

You can probably make the argument that if you was keen on the sustainability angle then supporting your local organic community agriculture / veg box scheme is the way to go. That should generates positive local economic, soil, biodiversity and carbon impacts 

Local as in mass produced, supermarket 'English' produce...less so

 MeMeMe 17 Oct 2022
In reply to CantClimbTom:

> I was in the co-op, they have supported some environmental issues before... so I was surprised that there were only 2 types of apples in stock in my local shop. Pink Lady from South Africa or Braeburn from New Zealand. At this time of the year, wouldn't there be lots of local produce?

My co-op has British apples, I'm eating one now, don't know why yours hasn't.

Post edited at 21:33
 Shani 17 Oct 2022
In reply to CantClimbTom:

Food miles got replaced in the national discourse by 'shit miles'; the distance a flushed turd could travel to the sea, untouched by any processing by water companies.

 Tringa 18 Oct 2022
In reply to berthengron:

One thing I didn't know about food miles until recently is that when looking at the miles food has travelled there is no element of how it travels those miles and the impact that has on the environment.

I think we should try to buy seasonal local food but food travelled 5,000 by sea has a much lower environmental impact than 5,000 miles by air.

Dave

 Siward 18 Oct 2022
In reply to Forest Dump:

> Food miles isn't clear cut on carbon as land use, agri techniques, processing and logistics all feed in to the final co2 figure. 

It's very complex. This piece claims some avocados aren't bad https://fairtrasa.com/avocado-carbon-footprint/

No idea if that qualifies as a robust study although I'm sure radio 4's More or Less did a piece on it. 

 mik82 18 Oct 2022
In reply to CantClimbTom:

I think it's because food miles are only part of the sustainability issue.

Meat that's more intensively farmed locally may have more of an environmental impact than some that's farmed thousands of miles away and shipped in. Similarly for crops that are grown with heat/light locally but don't require this elsewhere.

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 Jordan-L 18 Oct 2022
In reply to CantClimbTom:

"How Bad Are Bananas" is a good book that looks at the CO2 footprint of different foods and activities. I would recommend it.

https://howbadarebananas.com/

 magma 18 Oct 2022
In reply to CantClimbTom:

i guess the end of the free market ideology of 'the lettuce' can only be a good thing wrt food miles. are you advocating some sort of protectionist policies?

 MonkeyPuzzle 18 Oct 2022
In reply to CantClimbTom:

Food miles account for about 8% (from memory) of the total carbon footprint of a food, so not that great in the scheme of things and a sustainably produced product from South America, for example, could well be the more ecologically friendly choice than the same, but more intensively produced product from down the road.

There are other arguments for local food (community, culture, economy, seasonality etc.) of course and, all things being equal, more local is better.

OP CantClimbTom 18 Oct 2022
In reply to magma:

> you advocating some sort of protectionist policies?

You wouldn't want that nice looking lettuce of yours to have some sort of nasty accident now would you? There's a lot accidents round here you know, better pay the policy...

 peppermill 19 Oct 2022
In reply to CantClimbTom:

It's been replaced with one of the most awful, cringeworthy, vomit inducing words spawned in recent years:

"Locavore" 

(Just to be clear I agree with the concept it's the word itself I find effing awful)


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