the ethics of local food

So, how do we assess the importance and contribution of food miles (ie how far food has travelled to get to our plate) to our patterns of unsustainable living? Is eating local worth the effort when we could be supporting destitute farmers by buying Fairtrade versions of the same food?
According to a report [...]

have a cuppa

I sometimes wonder how much we would have to pay for commodities if they were produced in our country rather than in poor countries around the world.
And the answer is: a lot more than we do at the moment.
Tregothnan Estate in Cornwall has the only tea plantation in Britain. Tea sachets cost [...]

electricity choices

How are we going to generate energy in the future?
With the recent announcement of a new Coal power station and today’s announcement about nuclear power it is clear that energy production is going to be the next ethical battleground.
We don’t like nuclear, wind farms (bad for the birds), incinerators, [...]

food miles for apple juices

Lets compare apple juices.
I am using figures from the CO2 Emissions from Freight Transport in the UK: Report prepared for the Climate Change Working Group
of the Commission for Integrated Transport by Professor Alan McKinnon
HGV transport: 138 g per tonne-km
Van transport: 360 g per tonne-km
International sea transport: 7 gm per tonne-km (although this varies a [...]

environmental cost on the label

It would be great if we knew how much CO2 products had produced in getting to us. Then maybe we would start thinking about the environmental impact of the products we buy and maybe it would encourage us to think about buying more local things.
Edit: Karin has made a great point in the comments [...]