Counting only "food miles" may lead you wrong

Don't we all look more closely the origins of goods, especially food, in our shops nowadays and think about global warming? This healthy reaction may, however, not be enough to make the right decisions. One stunning example is that flowers grown in Africa and transported by air to our shops may have a smaller carbon footprint than those grown around the corner in heated greenhouses!

Food miles is a concept that provides a wider perspective but still falls short since there are more ecological factors than energy only. It is certainly not easy to exercise the power we have as customers. One solution to this may be labelling with fair trade or fair planet that takes the bigger perspective into account.