Food and climate change

What's the real environmental impact of your weekly shop?

Producing, transporting and consuming food is responsible for nearly a fifth of our carbon dioxide emissions. Some foods have a much bigger impact on the environment than others.

The production of meat and dairy products has a much bigger effect on climate change and other environmental impacts than that of most grains, pulses and outdoor fruit and vegetables.

Buy locally and in season

Buying local is simply to buy food (or any goods or services) produced, grown, or raised as close to your home as possible. Transporting foods long distances releases carbon dioxide and other pollutants into the atmosphere, contributing to climate change. Buying locally helps the environment and supports local businesses too.

Buying fruit and vegetables when they are locally in season can be a positive choice, as they are unlikely to have been transported long distances or heated during production. Consider eating more parsnips in January, asparagus in May, strawberries in July and apples in October!

If food comes from a long way away it doesn’t necessarily mean it has big climate change effects. Long distance transportation of produce by boat or food imported when in season, can have lower climate change effects than food produced out of season or stored for long periods.

Buy Fairtrade

Fairtrade is about better prices, decent working conditions, local sustainability, and fair terms of trade for farmers and workers in the developing world. By requiring companies to pay sustainable prices (which must never fall lower than the market price), Fairtrade addresses the injustices of conventional trade, which traditionally discriminates against the poorest, weakest producers.

The Fairtrade system also includes environmental standards as part of producer certification. The standard requires producers to work to protect the natural environment and make environmental protection a part of farm management.

Why not grow your own food?

Growing your own food is a tremendous way to reduce your impact on climate change. Most large scale, conventional farming systems have tremendous inputs of fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides, and high energy use. Fruit or vegetables grown thousands of miles away must be refrigerated and shipped from the field to our community.

Home grown food can also taste better and can be more nutritious than imported foods, as the nutritional content of fruits and vegetables begins to decline the moment they are harvested. The physical activity involved in regular gardening activities can also contribute to general health and well-being.

Reduce your food waste

The average UK household spends £250- £400 a year on food that goes in the bin. If this ends up in landfill, it produces methane, a greenhouse gas judged to be more than 20 times as powerful as carbon dioxide. Throwing less food away produces less methane and reduces other harmful environmental impacts from producing, packaging and transporting food.

To find out about some clever ways to reduce the amount of food that you waste have a look at the Love Food, Hate Waste website.