Food miles

Put simply, food miles are the distance food travels from field to plate. Agriculture and food account for nearly 30% of goods transported on our roads. This travel adds substantially to the carbon emissions that are contributing to climate change - which is why food miles matter.

Food travels further these days partly because the centralised systems of supermarkets have taken over from local and regional markets. A pint of milk or a crop of potatoes can be transported many miles to be packaged at a central depot and then sent many miles back to be sold near where they were produced in the first place.

Also, because of the way the food processing industry works, ingredients travel around the country from factory to factory, before they make their way to the shops.

On top of this, around 95% of the fruit and half of the vegetables we eat here in the UK are imported, mostly by plane. The amount of food being flown into the UK doubled in the 1990's and is predicted to rise further each year.

Local produce

By buying goods that have been produced locally, from local retailers, we can make sure that our food and other items haven't travelled uneccessarily. We're lucky here in Medway because we have a regular farmers' market on our doorstep, providing fresh produce from the Garden of England. 

Rochester Farmers' Market makes fresh local produce accessible at affordable prices, with growers selling direct to the customer.  This means that the price paid, even for organic produce, can be lower than from the supermarket.  More information on Rochester Farmers' Market here and further information on the range of local produce available from a range of other retailers here.