Food Miles

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James MacGregor of the International Institute for Environment and Development says: 'Domestic food miles on roads and customers driving to shops are the main contributors to (Britain's) carbon dioxide emissions.' He urges climate change campaigners to focus on the 99.9% of emissions from energy use and leisure flights.

World Bank figures highlight global discrepancies in energy use: the average Briton emits 30 times more carbon than the average Kenyan. Meanwhile, many African countries are already feeling the greatest impact of climate change through increasingly frequent floods and drought.

When the Soil Association, an organisation promoting organic foods, recently proposed removing organic labelling from air-freighted foods, African producers and economists reacted angrily. They pointed out that 83% of air-freighted organic produce to the UK comes from poorer developing nations. Russell N'gan'ga, chair of a Kenyan self-help group of mange-tout growers said, 'Whatever emissions we cause by the airfreight of our produce is far less than the pollution and damage caused by the lifestyles in the rich countries. It is not fair to punish us. We want trade not aid.'

Aid has come with strings attached. Poorer nations have been forced to open their markets to cheap western goods. This undermines their domestic production and fuels their reliance on export horticulture, which generates food miles.