Local vs Environment
I have a conundrum.
As a regular Riverford Veggie Box person, I took advantage of their dairy delivery as well so my organic milk arrived with my box once a week.
A few days ago there was a knock at the door and a rep from the local family run dairy asked if I were interested in being part of their milk round. “Think local” is very much a part of saving the planet. So, having established that they do organic, I signed up.
My first pint arrived on the doorstep this morning and I noticed that the milk comes from an organic farm in Bedfordshire. This means it has travelled from there to my dairy in Chesham and then out to my house via the milk float. Since I am still having my Riverford box delivered, I have increased my milk road miles considerably.
Environmentally, of course, I should go local for all my produce and some would say that I should put this above my preference for organic produce. I disagree with this one, though, health and principles play a part in our decisions. I don’t want to fill my body with chemicals and I don’t want to encourage their use in our fields. Neither do I want to eat meat from an animal that has been badly treated during its lifetime.
Having said that, I try to buy UK grown produce or, if not much is available, EU. I won’t buy courgettes from Israel, beans from Kenya, or peppers from Chile. We can no longer sustain the luxury of airfreighting food around the world to places where there is sufficient without it.
Which brings me back to my milk conundrum and buying local…