Buy a hand-crafted ceramic daffodil from the Ten Thousand Daffodils installation

30 Steps: Kitchen


Step 10 : Food Miles

The Problem: high carbon footprint, air freight, greenhouses
The Solution: local, seasonal food
  • Buy seasonal food, grown locally. Eat berries in summer and apples in winter. Check out our table to see which common fruits and vegetables grow when or Hubbub has a great monthly guide of seasonal produce in the UK, if you want a more extensive list. 
  • Reduce your intake of air-freighted food, for example soft fruits and vegetables such as avocados and asparagus.
  • Generally, if a fruit is more solid, it will be shipped so has a lower carbon footprint, such as bananas and melons. (How Bad Are Bananas by Mike Berners-Lee)
  • Support small independent shops and farmers’ markets. Supermarket stock is usually sent from farm to a central depot before local stores, so often has a higher carbon footprint.
  • Look for local veg box deliveries, which almost always tick all the boxes.

Initial cost

0.5/5

Lifetime savings

0.6/5

Environmental benefits

4.7/5

Health benefits

2.5/5