As consumers around
the world become aware of the carbon footprint of their travels
and purchases, a new term has appeared. Introducing food miles
which track the journey food takes from the farm to the table
along with the carbon emissions that are created. Increasingly
in United Kingdom
and the rest of Europe
labels on food items show food miles.
The concept is not without debate and we will explore this
topic further in 2008.
BACKGROUND
Labels on food items show the distance that food travels from
the time of its production until it reaches the consumer and
its accompanying contribution to environmental pollution. This
is not the same as a carbon footprint, which are measured by
the amount of CO2 produced, and the total energy used, to get
the product to market.
A July 2006 report from New Zealand's Lincoln University has
shown that taking into account the environmental cost of transporting
goods to the UK, New Zealand uses considerably less energy than
the UK in the production of sheep meat (NZ is four times as
efficient), dairy (NZ is twice as efficient) and apples.
These debates continue. On the positive side, paying attention
to food miles makes us aware of what food is local.
Introducing another new word - localvores -- people whose diet
is based on what is produced within a 100-mile or 100-kilometer
radius.
That said, 'food miles' is being introduced in tourism and
will document the increasing contribution that air travel used
by tourists has on the global environment.
REFERENCES
Food
Miles - ABC
Food
Miles - BBC
100 Mile Diet
Does
distance matter? - Independent
Global
food miles row enters tourism sector
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