Food miles may be green, but are they fair?By Kate Kelland
2 hours, 23 minutes ago
-snip-With the threat of climate change racing up the global political agenda, Britons are
going green when they shop. And their sights are set on food miles.
"The concept of food miles has absolutely rightly entered into people's consciousness
in Britain," says Bill Vorley, head of the sustainable markets group at the British
International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) think-tank.
The idea of reducing food miles seems straightforward -- simply buy produce which has
travelled the shortest possible distance from farm to plate.
However, just as British consumers' enthusiasm to cut food miles is growing, some
experts are warning that an over-simplistic view of the issue risks doing more harm
than good.
They are urging policymakers not to rush blindly into formulating "buy-local-only"
campaigns for consumers which could prove disastrous for many poor African food
producers.
-snip- Full article:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070206/lf_nm/environment_foodmiles_dc_2