The current disruption to flights may make you think more carefully about where you food comes from. We rely on the global food market to feed us – around 40% of our food is currently imported, the UK is the largest net importer of food and drink products in the European Union, and these trends are rising.
Also supermarkets work on ‘just in time’ supply, keeping only a few days food on the shelves and relying on suppliers and the transport system to get food to us. This makes our food system susceptible to shocks, for example the current air disruption, petrol price rises and extreme weather events.
Eating local, seasonal produce is a key way to nibble away at your carbon footprint – it also benefits the local economy, supports local jobs and reconnects you with seasonal harvests, whilst you enjoy healthy, nutritious food. So if you’d like your family’s food to address these issues, have a good browse through this website and check out our Shop page for local outlets.
A small proportion of the food imported into the UK comes by air – less than 1%. However, this 1% accounts for 11% of all food transport CO2. It’s worth noting that 13% of food transport related emissions is caused by shopping by car. This is an area we could reduce by shopping more locally on foot and reducing the number of car trips.
Source of graphs: A Low Carbon Route Map – Food, by Natural Scotland