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How far have your fruit and vegetables travelled before they landed on your plate? Have you ever stopped to think about where they come from? Have you ever wondered how they grow, what climate they grow in, in which season are they at their best? Your challenge this week is to work out the countries of origin of the fruit and vegetables you eat this week, and then ask your parent / carer if you could try some ‘seasonal, local’ produce.
Don’t forget to let your voice be heard by HITTING THE RED BUTTON and telling us you have completed the challenge.
We are all creatures of habit. ‘I like chopped banana on my cereal’ or ‘blueberries in my yoghurt’, or ‘cucumber sticks in my packed lunch’. Young Climate Warriors need to be brave and adventurous. To help cut our carbon emissions we need to eat ‘seasonally’ when we can – this means maybe replacing the imported blueberries with british gooseberries, or chopped banana with local strawberries in the summer, or having fresh peas to munch on instead of cucumber.
Food miles are a complicated thing, they are only part of the carbon footprint story. There are times when food from further afield may have a lower carbon footprint than food grown locally – depending on the carbon emissions related to the cultivation, storage and processing required. The use of heated greenhouses, high levels of fertilizers or pesticides, farm machinery, cold storage containers and packaging can substantially increase a product’s carbon footprint. What is however definitely the case is eating local produce when it is in season will help you lower your carbon footprint.
Wondering which vegetables are ‘in season’ in the UK in June – how many of these can you eat over the next few weeks? Asparagus, broad beans, broccoli, courgettes, fennel, french beans, lettuce and salad leaves, pak choi, peas, radishes, rocket, runner beans, spinach, watercress, wild nettles.
Remember to HIT THE RED BUTTON when you have completed this challenge!
