Food miles

DCFC79

What item of food has anyone noticed that has the most food miles. For example ive noticed the morrisons version of ritz crackers are made in canada and sainsburys version of bertolli is made in rep of ireland.

santer_2

The crackers have travelled 3332 miles (5361km) as the crow flies. The Bertolli has travelled 288 miles (463km) as the crow flies.

http://www.organiclinker.com/food-miles.cfm

For Eggs

http://www.organiclinker.com/egg-miles.cfm

DCFC79

santer wrote: »

The crackers have travelled 3332 miles (5361km) as the crow flies. The Bertolli has travelled 288 miles (463km) as the crow flies.

http://www.organiclinker.com/food-miles.cfm

For Eggs

http://www.organiclinker.com/egg-miles.cfm

thanks for the links, i always thought the sainsburys olive oil spread was made in italy but its only recently ive looked at the country its made. Anyone else been looking at country of origin for food stuffs.

santer_2

I learned about the code on eggs saying if it is free range or cage, there were other links but they got hung up on organic versus free trade

From here

http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/green-living/food-miles-the-true-cost-of-putting-imported-food-on-your-plate-451139.html

" If we want to help growers in poor countries, we must appreciate the difference between Fairtrade and organic labels - whether or not we are about the environment. Fairtrade guarantees that individual producers have earned a living wage and that their community has accrued some further benefits from the trade. Organic certification agencies have always been silent on the question of wages and are not a guarantee of food that is ethically or equitably grown. "

Difficult one, do you buy with the least food miles or the most beneficial for Fairtrade producers?

stephen77

Your cracker may have been made in Canada.

They could make the same Cracker in the uK however there is a good chance the flour could have from Canada so distance is still the same.

When you get a food like battered chicken nuggets. The chicken may have been lived in the UK, however the pepper and other spices in the batter could have come from India, malaysia and parts of Africa etc. So total miles gets very high quickly. However pepper does not need as much fuel to transport as the chicken part of the meal.