My Lifestyle
If you have already measured your carbon footprint and are following our suggestions to make your home, driving and travel more energy efficient you are well on the way to becoming a climate conscious citizen.
You have taken the first two steps – measure and reduce, but now it's time for you to take that final step and balance your remaining carbon dioxide emissions. Visit our shop to find out more.
Food with a low carbon footprint
Have you considered how far your food has had to travel before it lands on your plate?
For many of us our more sophisticated taste means our food is coming increasingly from more exotic locations and these trends have resulted in a large increase in the distance food travels from the where it is grown, fished or farmed. This is known to the consumer as "food miles". Since 1978, the annual amount of food moved in the UK by HGVs has increased by 23%, and the average distance for each trip has increased by over 50%.
Of course, the more miles food travels to reach us, the more impact it has on our environment as more carbon dioxide is emitted and air pollution, congestion and noise worsens.
However, we can all do something. By eating food which is grown locally you can help stimulate your local economy, keep people in jobs and eat better.
Northumbria Larder has links to many suppliers of locally grown produce which is often organic, super tasty and healthy.
Happy Christmas!
You may be surprised to know that your Christmas meal may have travelled nearly 25,000 miles before landing on your plate. A roast turkey with cranberry sauce, pigs in blankets, sprouts, carrots, peas, roast potatoes and runner beans, washed down with a sherry aperitif and then a bottle of wine could have clocked up an amazing 24,760 miles. And yet there is more to come as exotic tastes such as asparagus, courgettes, sweet potato and squash can add an extra 16,000 miles to the total, meaning your food could have travelled around 40,000 miles.