Launch of the Eat Seasonably campaign
Date added: 28 May, 2009
28.5.2009 (Eat Seasonably website)
A new campaign has been launched, called “Eat Seasonably”.
The campaign was features on Radio 4 today – with Patrick Holden of the Soil
Assn. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/listen_again/default.stm at 0855).
The Eat Seasonably campaign’s website is at: http://eatseasonably.co.uk
The aim of the campaign is to get people to be aware of what foods are seasonal
(many people have lost all idea of what is in season, as it all appears on the
supermarket shelves almost every month). The campaign is very relevant in helping
people to choose foods with a lower carbon footprint, being able to avoid either
products that have been grown in greenhouses, in cold climates, requiring heating
and lighting using fossil fuels – or else products that have been flown or shipped
thousands of miles, also using huge amounts of fossil fuels.
The website says:
“Eat Seasonably celebrates eating the right things at the right time: a crisp
salad when it’s hot and sunny, a wholesome stew when it’s cold; strawberries in
June, Brussels sprouts in December.
Eating seasonably means:
Better taste – top chefs agree that fresh seasonal produce is best
Better value – our research has shown that a basket of fruit and veg bought in the summer
can be as much as a third cheaper than the same basket bought out of season
Better for the planet – growing in season requires lower levels of artificial inputs than at other
times of the year”
“Eating seasonably is also a great way of eating more sustainably. Growing fruit
and veg in season requires lower levels of artificial inputs like heating, lighting,
pesticides and fertilisers than at other times of the year. So seasonable produce
has a lower environmental impact.
Eating seasonably is also a great first step towards thinking about the wider
environmental implications of your diet. In fact, there are many ways to decrease
the impact of what you and your family eat.”
It does not actually mention transport. However, it has great relevance to anyone
interested in air freight or perishables.
This page says which companies and organisations are involved:
http://eatseasonably.co.uk/index.php/what-to-eat-now/who-is-involved/
The website aims to provide information on which vegetables and fruits are in
season, each month. (This bit of the site is still a bit rudimentary, or on its
way).
The campaign just gets down to celebrating locally grown food, grown out of doors.
The website also says:
“Eat Seasonably is the first campaign from a new initiative called “We will if
you will”, a non-profit project spearheaded by Dame Fiona Reynolds, Director General
of the National Trust, and Ian Cheshire, Chairman of B&Q. The initiative aims
to deliver a series of new and unique collaborative efforts between business and
civil society to encourage the mass mobilisation of individuals towards more sustainable
lifestyles.
The Eat Seasonably campaign has been made possible through seed-funding and support
from Defra.”
Individuals can sign up to the newsletter. http://eatseasonably.co.uk/what-to-eat-now/who-is-involved/
Posted: Thursday, May 28th, 2009. Filed in Air Freight News.
