Press Release
Carbon-info.org releases first UK Food Miles Calculator
10th September 2006
Carbon-info.org, a Hampshire based environment organisation working to raise public awareness on global warming and climate change, releases the UK’s first food miles calculator, which estimates how much money and carbon dioxide (CO2) individuals can save by making small informed changes to the way they shop for food.
The food miles calculator, a software package developed specifically for the UK market, estimates the financial cost of doing the weekly shopping by different types of vehicles and the environmental impact of purchasing food products transported by ship, plane and truck from overseas producers to supermarkets in the UK.
Research has shown that the average UK family spent £189 on fuel doing the weekly shopping and in the process generated vast amounts of CO2 by selecting food products that have been shipped to the UK despite identical varieties of fruit and vegetables being available from UK farmers.
Furthermore, half of all vegetables and 95% of fruit consumed in the United Kingdom is produced overseas. In 1995 more than 19 million tons of CO2 was released into the atmosphere by transporting food to UK supermarkets, which have been under sustained pressure to do more to support the rural economy.
“The calculator proves that the big UK supermarkets can help reduce CO2 emissions substantially if they are prepared to source more local grown food and how individual choice can have a real impact”, said Carbon-info.org’s chairman Flemming Bermann.
The UK food miles calculator runs on a standard Windows computer and all calculations are based on data and a mathematical model developed and verified by DEFRA - the UK Government‘s Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
A number of leading UK food suppliers of local and national vegetable box schemes have welcomed the release of the food miles calculator because it crystallises the environmental value of such schemes and how easy it is to ‘do your bit to help the environment.‘
Ms Rooney, who runs The Local Food Company, commented that the software was “easy to use and clearly highlighted the benefit of buying quality British food through the internet from a local supplier that can deliver to your door because it is good for the planet and it will save you money.“
“It is essential that people are able to make informed choices about
buying food and the effect on the environment of moving food around the
planet. The UK food miles calculator offers a simplicity in calculations
which means people can sit back and think about how far their food has
travelled“, said Farm Fresh Express‘ Managing Director Graham Rawlinson.
Further information on the UK food Miles Calculator is available online at: www.carbon-info.org/green_software/software.htm
The Local Food Company and Farm Fresh Express can be reached at www.thelocalfoodcompany.co.uk and www.farmfreshexpress.co.uk
