20th October 2026
Local foods
Food miles of themselves don’t add that much to the carbon footprint of the food we eat – about 6% on average, notes Goulson. Although this is much larger for foods brought in by air. Whilst only 0.16% of global food miles are by air, this is seldom indicated on food labels but a good guess would be that perishable foods from the southern hemisphere – such as asparagus, strawberries and berries sold out of season – have come this way.
Local as a term is not that precise! Do we mean food grown or produced within say a 5 mile radius, or food that is regionally grown and produced, of food that is grown in the UK?
Goulson highlights – as have many other experts – that the UK is only about 60% self sufficient in food, rising to 75% of we just consider foods that are well suited to our diet (bananas and citrus fruits are best grown in warmer climes). Disappointingly we only grow 50% of the vegetables we eat and a mere 16% of fruit.
Why do we import food that could be easily grown in the UK? Sometimes it is because other countries can benefit from cheaper labour – Spain has many temporary agricultural workers who come from North Africa and are paid a pittance. Other countries may have less restrictive regulations than in the UK around the use of pesticides or animal welfare which again may reduce the price – but at what cost? This is not to say that UK standards are always the highest – the EU has banned the use of neonictinoids but these continue to be used in the UK under repeatedly issued ‘emergency’ permits.
Goulson concludes that ‘the ethics of the shopping decisions you make re fiendishly complicated. Every food item you buy has influence, funding a particular grower or system of production along with its associated chemical inputs, plus all the transport, processing and packaging costs.’ (P46 Eat the Planet Well).
One advantage I can see for buying food that is locally grown and/or produced, is that it can help strengthen the resilience of local farmers and local communities.
