Food miles

We are constantly reminded of the global market and food miles but it all seems to me to be a matter of conscience, I am happy to buy a bunch of bananas supporting a farmer in the Caribbean but not sugar snap peas from Africa.

I grow sugar snap peas in my garden and harvest them over a three month period, I enjoyed them and I look forward to them next year. Many of you will not be that lucky but buying in season and supporting local producers, then moving to another seasonal crop seems to me to be the way forward.

On a recent visit to the supermarket I found a pack of smoked salmon, the fish was from Chile, it was smoked in Poland, 5 slices were laid on cardboard, then vacuum packed in a plastic bag and finally displayed in a cardboard sleeve. The food miles were incredible and the packaging was heavier than the fish, yes the price was less than ours but surely this is irresponsible behaviour.

Perhaps it should be advertised as ‘buy now-pay later’