Thinking global, eating local
9 February 2007
Eating locally grown food in season may not be the obvious way to tackle climate change, but read on. Crops like strawberries, asparagus, runner beans and mange tout peas are imported from warmer climates at this time of year – they are summer crops in this country.
Think what it means to eat mange tout peas from Africa in January. You cannot transport them by boat - they would be rotten by the time they arrived. So those little mange touts in your stir-fry have each clocked up more food miles than the average person does in a year. Distributing products by plane results in 50 times more CO2 than sea freight. The answer is to eat seasonal, local food whenever you can.
First you need to know what’s in season. That is not as hard as it sounds, simply look for food from the UK. The good news is that seasonal food is often cheapest. Even this month there’s a huge choice of fresh vegetables like carrots, cabbages of all colours, swede, parsnips, Brussels sprouts, purple sprouting broccoli, leeks, onions, celeriac, rhubarb, apples and pears.
Could you grow some of your own food in containers on your patio, in the garden or on an allotment?
You can still find local food at the green grocers for example Vale of Evesham vegetables. Try the Farmers Market or keep an eye on Fresher by Miles, a new website where local produce can be ordered online.
There’s a new chance to get even more closely involved with local and organically grown food. Join Canalside Community Food in Radford Semele and you will get a share of the vegetable harvest throughout the year. By setting up a monthly standing order you are sharing the risk with the growers, and will also gain access to the farm through working days and social events. Best of all, you can watch the crops growing and you will know exactly how far they’ve travelled to your plate. The first 70 shares are available now.
www.canalsidecommunityfood.org.uk or phone 07916
175191
www.warwickshirefarmersmarkets.co.uk
www.fresherbymiles.co.uk