The food on your plate

The world would probably be a better place if I didn’t eat so much. Seriously. I read somewhere recently, as well, an analysis that showed that walking is actually less environmentally friendly than driving, because walkers require more energy, in the form of food, than they would if they sat comfortably in their cars.

Food production is now so energy-intensive that more carbon is emitted providing a person with enough calories to walk to the shops than a car would emit over the same distance

We have had an organic veg box delivered from Abel & Cole for a couple of years now. Most of the time I really like the random surprises I get in the box, and I love the fact that the changing seasons are marked by the turnover of fruit and vegetables. I have learned a lot of interesting new ways to make beetroot palatable, too. Eating produce that is in season means you are eating mainly locally-sourced food as well, which reduces the environmental impact of the food on your plate. You may be familiar with the now-cliched statistic about a kiwi fruit producing more than its own weight in Co2, as it is flown across the world to your supermarket.

Did you know that there is a world cereal shortage, and that in part this is caused by the food manufacturers pushing baby milk products in developing countries? Cereal crops are not only fundamental to human diets across the world; they are also fed to cows. This is why bread is now so expensive, and Lucy Siegle advises moving away from reliance on energy-intensive, industrialised bread production, to make our own. And think how much nicer that would be than the shop-bought cardboard loaf. I am working on implementing this, and will report back. So far I have only reached the thinking about it stage, but I do have all the ingredients for a basic loaf. One other thing I must do is rid my cupboards of supermarket “basic” products. I shudder to think how or why these can be so cheap.

Sadly, in my neck of the suburbs, it is quite hard to avoid the supermarket. The nearest butcher is a drive away (but maybe I could manage it on my bike sometime, and then have to eat twice as much to fuel my progress). The only greengrocer in town is the Cheeky Veg Man, who has a stall three days a week and couldn’t even spell fairtrade, never mind sell it. I get eggs from a market stall, but have never been brave enough to ask their provenance. The Egg Lady does recycle her boxes, though. I have my name down on the two-year waiting list for an allotment, which will probably become an overgrown burden, but at least I will be able to make nettle soup.

Two suggestions that I got from Leo Hickman‘s book are the meat-reducing diet, and the argument that when you have to choose between organic and fairtrade, it is better to go for fairtrade, because that will include some environmental controls. In conversation with Lisa, we agreed that this is still dependent on the item, to a certain extent, because for example it is more important that one’s bananas are pesticide-free, particularly since our offspring consume so many of them. I aim to concentrate on the items I buy the most of, thus maximising my own tiny impact on the organic/fairtrade market.

Bananas produced for export consume the largest volume of chemicals of any crop except cotton and the use of over 400 agrochemicals in the banana industry is – literally – fatal for both workers and their environment

Last week Lisa and I were mulling over the ethics of milk delivery. Dairy Crest now delivers organic milk, but at 69p per pint, as opposed to Waitrose’s £1.67 for four pints, it’s hard to put your money where your mouth is in this case. In favour of Dairy Crest: convenience for the busy mum, recyclable glass packaging, more money to farmers as there is one less middle-man than in the chain from cow to supermarket. In favour of Waitrose: bulk packaging, lower price, and, in my experience of having deliveries a little while ago, milk that keeps better, so better quality control. And no-one else in my street has milk delivered, so that’s one extra journey for the milk float. I think I am in favour of sticking to the supermarket for this one.

A final thought on food shopping: carrier bags! A pox on them and all who use them!