Food
Eat Seasonal
3,360 people have taken this step
What
Add some seasonal variety to your diet, enjoy the fresh taste of local food and radically cut your carbon footprint.
By eating seasonal, locally produced food, you can reduce your carbon emissions by almost a tonne a year - equivalent to a return flight from London to Boston.
Benefits
For people
Eating fruit and veg when it’s in season is enjoyable - looking forward to the first strawberry, asparagus or parsnip of the season is a genuine treat. But it's not just about eating in a more natural rhythm. Food grown locally can save your hard earned cash. For example, strawberries cost less in the summer when they’re grown here as they have lower transport costs.
It’s expensive to fly food here, so it’s not just the environment that pays. You'll get more bang for your buck nutritionally, too. The longer fruit is left on the plant, the more nutrients it is able to soak up - and that's possible when there's a quick journey from farm to shop.
For planet
Powering hothouses and flying fresh fruit and veg around the world uses a lot of energy. For example, 250g pack of asparagus air-freighted from Peru uses 3.5kg of carbon (or CO2e) whereas the same amount of asparagus grown in the UK is responsible for just 125g carbon (or CO2e).
Local doesn’t always mean lower carbon though. For example, in winter it’s more efficient to import tomatoes from Spain than grow them in a British hot house, but in summer British grown is the outright winner.
Bear in mind how things are imported - foods like berries, asparagus, and salads that have a short shelf life have to be flown in, giving them a far higher carbon footprint than things like bananas, kiwis and sweet potatoes that are shipped.
How
Buying only local, seasonal food can be a challenge at first, but once you've got it cracked it'll be super rewarding.
Here are some tips to help you on your way:
Sign up to a veg box, so you can be sure to always have seasonal veggies delivered right to your door. Both Riverford and Abel & Cole provide organic veg boxes which can come in a variety of different sizes depending on your household.
BBC Good Food has a handy chart showing when each type of fruit and veg is at its best.
Get yourself a good seasonal cookbook; like Margaret Costa's classic Four Seasons, A Veg Box Companion, or Nigel Slater’s seasonal Greenfeast books.
Find your local food producers, using Big Barn's interactive map.
Why not pledge to put your Green fingers to the test and grow your own - it doesn't get more local than that!
References
How Bad Are Bananas? Mike Berners-Lee