OK so last time I discussed everyone favourite Meat vs Veggie debate. Now, let's talk air miles. Last year I went to Australia for my Masters fieldwork (more details and fun stories to come!) and while there were some days when I really missed a good Tunnock's Caramel Wafer from home, it seemed utterly crazy that they would be selling them there! WHAT?!! Now clearly that's not a problem with the Tunnock's brand, but rather with our entire society demanding access to products from all over the world, no matter where you are. Don't worry - I'm not going to start telling you to go full Tom and Barbara Good, turning your entire garden into an allotment with a house powered off your own waste (though if you’ve done that, drop me a message because I'd love to have a chat sometime!). For the entire world to go self-sufficient would create a lot of problems and chances are most of us would struggle to maintain any kind of comfortable living standard. But what if we went less extreme?
You don't have to always buy products grown locally, or even from your home country, but what if we all did that 50% of the time? Or 80%? And if you CAN do that 100% of the time, then how about making up for those who don't have that option? Now I love a farmer's market as much as the next person: who doesn't love the colourful veg, the smell of roasting meat, and of course the cheeky cake stand that sneaks in amongst the fresh produce? But there's always a catch. Thanks to this produce often being the freshest and some of the best quality we can buy, unfortunately it can also be expensive. I think the best thing to do here is weigh up your options: how much more expensive are the local carrots compared to the ones from the other side of the world? Are the Pink Lady apples from New Zealand really that much better than a British Royal Gala (my favourite by the way) that you can only buy those and never the local ones? Do you really need to have three avocados every week, or actually could you manage at just one a week, or better once a fortnight (I'm not going to get started on avocados... do your own research, Google how bad they are for the environment, please please PLEASE reduce your avocado intake! Easy for me to say though - I think they're gross....). When you're in the supermarket, really take a look at where things are from and ask yourself, "do I actually need that this week?". Sometimes the answer will be yes - I'm not saying that you should never eat any food that can't be grown in the UK. Personally, my weaknesses are oranges, bananas and pineapples - I REALLY struggle not to buy them, but for every time I don't buy them, the less air miles I consume.
If you're going to eat meat, there are two things to think about: where the meat is from and what was the animal fed on. A lot of British chicken is fed on soy grown in South America (I'm not saying that it all is - chicken farmers please don't lynch me), meaning that actually even though we're buying local produce, we're still contributing to rainforest destruction in the Amazon - crazy! Beef on the other hand is much higher in carbon emissions and water requirements, but British beef is almost entirely grass fed. I have the wonderful privilege of living in the countryside surrounding by farmland, and just upriver where I walk the dog there is a beef farm whose land couldn't be used for growing crops, so why not put cows on it? That I can say I have no problem with. The issue comes if there is land being taken up for meat that could be used to grow crops or be rewilded. Note to the vegetarians and vegans though - just because your food is plant-based, doesn't mean the same logic doesn't apply! Meat and dairy require vast amounts of energy, water and land to produce them, but so does soy. Soy meat is great for those of us who love meat but are trying to cut down, or if you like tofu or are lactose intolerant, but soy plantations are an enormous problem for human consumables, not just animal feed. Personally, where possible I buy non-soy fake meats and drink oat milk as opposed to soy, which according to most life-cycle analyses that I've seen is the most eco-friendly of all types of "milk".
In short - next time you're in the shops, just remember the 3 vital questions:
1) Do I need it?
2) Where does it come from, and where do the resources required for its production come from?
3) Can I get the same thing or something similar from closer to home?
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