What Are The Effects?
The effects of food miles can be measured in the pollution that is caused. Think about the distance travelled, then think about how that distance was covered. Was it by Plane? Boat? Road?
What Can I Do?
Buy Local! That's the key. This means supporting local growers. Its much better for the environment growing and buying organic, but what if that organic product has come from, say Chile? That's a long haul journey for your apples to go! Its better to go down the road (on a bicycle) and buy from your local farmer, or grower.
Beware though, even some foods that may appear to be from local suppliers, if bought is supermarkets, have probably toured the country between depots before arriving back in the shop.
Why not walk to the local shop or get the bus? This all helps to reduce the "food mileage" effect. Composting packaging, where possible, is another way of reducing the environmental effects of our food. This reduces the amount of waste that needs to be taken to the landfill sites and again helps to cut pollution.
Where can I find out more?
Find out more about Food Miles and some fun statistics from our calculator -> More about food miles
If you want to see this same thinking applied to one specific product, check out our sister site EggTracker - it does exactly that for UK eggs, using the code stamped on the shell instead of a country of origin to work out how far each egg has actually travelled from farm to carton. It's food miles in miniature: a useful number, and a good conversation starter, but never the whole picture.