Ethical Shopping Choices Are Difficult For Consumers Faced With Conflicting Information

It can be problematic for consumers wanting to shop ethically

, buy healthy food and keep the household budget under control to know what their best options are.

There has been an argument for some years that shopping only for local produce in season is the most environmentally friendly option because the food has less far to travel and therefore a lower carbon footprint.

It is not quite so simple as that. The UK's Soil Association operates a scheme that certifies some air-freighted organic produce on the basis that synthetic fertiliser and pesticide production, which is generally prohibited from organic agriculture, causes much higher emissions than air freighting. The Fairtrade Foundation also air-freights beans direct from Kenya and the range could be extended to other vegetables such as baby sweetcorn and broccoli.

While there is also a moral argument against cutting imports from farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa, worth 1 million per day, on the grounds that local British food means lower emissions one environmental scientist has calculated that out-of-season produce grown in the UK can involve more food miles than imported goods.

The Government's farm minister, Jim Paice, said recently that although it was in people's self-interest and that of the community to buy local because it was competitive and better quality, the era of cheap food was over and that prices had to become fairer if farmers were to meet the challenge of producing more whilst impacting less on the environment.

The largest component of fossil fuel usage in industrial farming does not result from transporting food or even the machinery used on the farm for producing it. It is use of chemical-based agricultural products. Around 40% of the energy used in the food system goes towards the production of artificial fertilisers and pesticides.

The previous generation of chemical based pesticides and fertilisers are synthetic products created from atmospheric nitrogen and natural gas, a process that takes a significant amount of energy. Producing and distributing them requires an average of 5.5 gallons of fossil fuels per acre. They are in any case being gradually phased out, at least in Europe and the UK.

More environmentally-friendly pesticides and fertilisers are coming from the biopesticides developers and these low-chemical agricultural products are better for the land, for the environment and for producing healthier food. They are created from natural ingredients and when teamed with an integrated pest management system on farms do a great deal to minimise the wastage of crops as well as leaving no residues in either food or soil.

In a world where consumers are better educated and the effects of previous scientific inventions have been shown to have longer term negative consequences to both land and human health, it is reasonable that these new products should be properly tested and registered. This can be a lengthy and expensive process and the need to support the challenges being faced by farmers with the tools to do what is being asked of them is becoming increasingly urgent.

Copyright (c) 2011 Alison Withers

by: Alison Withers

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