Categories: uncategorized
Date: 03 October 2005 11:52:44
I am thinking about taking part in this experiment. The organiser of the website suggested either trying our best to use local food (and writing notes about when we can't, when we can't get information etc.) or giving ourselves points for how local things are. It sounds interesting, anyway.
Update: I've emailed the website organiser and have decided on a points system. He suggested something based on the value of the food but thinking about it I would find it very difficult to put a value on things (especially veg - we get a veg box and it's going to be confusing enough to ring them up and work out where it all came from!), so perhaps I will use the following. Each food will get a point for where it was made and a point for where it was processed so:
3+3 grown and produced within 50 miles of us
2+2 grown and produced in the North of England (I've just found out our milk is bottled either 55 or 60 miles away - even if it's from cows down the road, it has to go that far to the bottling plant!)
1+1 grown and produced in the UK
0+0 grown and produced in Europe
-1-1 grown and produced outside Europe.
The only problem is where something is packaged in its country of origin I would imagine it's better than where the raw material is transported, e.g. dried mango from Africa takes less fuel to transport and is better for the producers than fresh mango.
So if it was grown and produced in a developing country, I will be kind and give it -1+1 (so dried mango, grown and dried in Africa works out the same as dried mango, grown in Africa and dried in the UK).
No, that doesn't make much sense to me either, but I'll give it a go.