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 South West Debates Forums : South West Debates Chat : Environment |
 Topic: How brave are we food production and consumtion? |
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Louise Thornhil
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Joined: 04 Dec 2006 Location: United Kingdom Online Status: Offline Posts: 1 |
   Topic: How brave are we food production and consumtion?Posted: 08 Dec 2006 at 3:10pm |
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On finding out that an individuals carbon foot print is, on average is up to approx 25%, due to food consumtion and production- I started thinking about the implications for the Sw as a region that produces some of the best food in a quality landscape. where does it go? Can I source it direct, can I reduce my impact etc.......
If you had asked me before the indivual foot printing I would I have looked to my transport and energy to significantly reduce my carbon impact but I'm having to think again - not that they are not important but I'mnot going to get from 'two and half planets' to 'one' without some wider thinking. Once thinking the size of the issue is enourmous - and where ares the ideas - loads on advice on energy eficiency and using public transport but the only thing on food appears to be farmer markets ........mmmmmm
Are we doing enough as a region to protect our environment through how we produce food, help people source locally and really changellege ourselves to lead or are we waiting - personally I ve being doing the later and feel probably we have organisationally ...........
What do other people think?
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Simon
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Joined: 16 Nov 2006 Location: United Kingdom Online Status: Offline Posts: 6 |
Posted: 08 Dec 2006 at 5:38pm |
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Good point
And there is the issue of scale. How do we get food enough for 5.5 million people who live in the SW? Is it possible to grow significantly more in the region? Would that be organic or would it have to be more intensively farmed.
And how do we get it to the shops. Clearly Farmers Markets are not enough - so we need an efficient system of packaging and distribution to get it all 'just in time' to the supermarkets.
More home and local growing? more allotments? Less choice of food year round? I guess some of these issues need to be confronted if we are to get that footprint share down from 25% to nearer 10%.
Colin Tudge has written a good book called So Shall We Reap which tries to show how the world can provide food for the 9.5 billlon people who will be on the surface of the planet by 2050. It might help.
And then perhaps we need to re-think bio-fuels if they are going to take away valuable food growing land.
Hmm - this discussion thread should be an interesting one. Edited by Simon - 14 Dec 2006 at 5:45pm |
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alister
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Joined: 14 Nov 2006 Online Status: Offline Posts: 21 |
Posted: 11 Dec 2006 at 10:12am |
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That's interesting about food miles Louise...
We buy nearly all our fresh produce from a local organic supplier who delivers a box to the door. Two things are interesting about it - he grows what he can locally (and he's doing more and more) and sources what he can't grow from somewhere as close as he can. So he keeps the miles down on our behalf. The second thing is that everything is dirty - cos it's straight out the earth - and imperfect (bruised, marked etc). After an initial sense of horror, even revulsion (really...) I am much happier using this stuff. I don't honestly believe that it tastes superior and I think we should stop marketing organic on that basis. I do, however, now keep my revulsion for packaged, prewashed, pre-chopped stuff in the supermarkets - and maybe that's what we should be persuading people to look at. I think, Simon, that we *should* all look at less and at less choice. |
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Leslie SSW
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Joined: 06 Dec 2006 Location: England Online Status: Offline Posts: 3 |
Posted: 05 Jan 2007 at 8:07am |
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We'll certainly need more home & local food growing in the new low carbon era. Some say that more food growing within primary urban areas will be needed & a major relocation back to rural areas will occur when homes with a decent sized patch for growing food becomes more far important than a double garage - where is this allowed for in the draft Regional Spatial Strategy...?
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alister
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Joined: 14 Nov 2006 Online Status: Offline Posts: 21 |
Posted: 31 Jan 2007 at 9:57am |
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Here's an interesting statistic I heard - it is more carbon efficient to put tomatoes from Spain on the tables of consumers in Bristol than it is to put tomatoes from Cornwall.
Mmm. Supposing this is true - what it suggests is that 'Local' is not necessarily best, but that 'low carbon' is. SO we need to do even more as consumers. Jonathon Porritt has a great article on this in the Guardian. Edited by alister - 31 Jan 2007 at 10:53am |
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James
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Joined: 14 Dec 2006 Online Status: Offline Posts: 17 |
Posted: 31 Jan 2007 at 3:21pm |
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Yes - but we are also interested in the livelihoods of our farmers, growers and businesses here in the South West. So not such an easy equation.
What we can be sure of - is that true organic farming is more climate friendly than non-organic. By not using oil-derived pesticides and fertilisers, it is leff carbon intensive than conventional agriculture. I know, I know - someone is going to mention cows and methane!! 
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alister
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Joined: 14 Nov 2006 Online Status: Offline Posts: 21 |
Posted: 31 Jan 2007 at 4:49pm |
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I guess the real win is to make local production carbon neutral.
I reckon we need to price carbon to make that happen, though. |
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Cookie Exmoor
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Joined: 07 Feb 2007 Location: United Kingdom Online Status: Offline Posts: 2 |
Posted: 07 Feb 2007 at 2:27pm |
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Where I live the allotments all have waiting lists. But a farmer from miles away is landbanking 2 fallow fields right on the edge of town. Where is the PPS that enables my Planning Authority or Parish Council to pass policies so we can force the landbanking farmer to allow locals to grow food on his land (for sensible rent), whilst he waits 10+ years for the Local Plan allow him to build houses? Oh.. & Somerset Organic Link cooperative shows how to get good range & quality veg, even in the Hungry Gap months...
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James
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Joined: 14 Dec 2006 Online Status: Offline Posts: 17 |
Posted: 07 Feb 2007 at 9:46pm |
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I like the new PPS idea. Perhaps an opportunity to put to the Inspector of the Regional Spatial Strategy which is going to public examination in a few weeks time.
Also - why not approach the farmer who is leaving 2 fallow fields and ask him if you / the community can at least use it as allotments for the next few years? Thanks for the tip on Somerset Organic Link. We need to find ways of getting much more local food production - both to reduce food miles and to provide more food security in the region. |
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