Pressure rises to cut food miles
The government taskforce on sustainable procurement has changed its rules of engagement with suppliers to rebalance the often conflicting issues of short-term low prices and medium-term supply chain sustainability. Government figures suggest that the environmental and social cost of 'food miles' in the UK costs £98bn a year. National Health Service food consumption is a major cost.
The government may be taking action, but what about the private sector? Food retailers are coming under pressure via the media to reduce food miles. I was amazed to see the Sainsbury advert on TV recently promoting 'fresh' strawberries that had clearly travelled much of the country and taken, they boasted, 'only' 48 hours to get to store.
Examples of perishable, non-UK seasonal product being flown in are legion. For example, a 747 cargo plane uses just under 200,000 litres of fuel to get from South Africa to the UK.
I wonder how long it will be before bleached, pre-packed salads will be banned on the grounds of flavour impairment and unsustainable environmental damage?
It's hard to place all the blame with manufacturers. They are simply responding to retailer demands. In September on Radio 4, Kevin Hawkins, director general of the British Retail Consortium, had the gall to blame the consumer who clearly, he said, preferred these high-waste products. I wonder if it was also the consumer who suggested the UK Terry's Chocolate factory should close down to be replaced by sources in Central and Eastern Europe?
The time is nigh when lip service to environmental issues in food supply chains will be replaced by regulatory and corporate reporting codes of practice.
At that time retailers and the major multinational food manufacturers will face painful decisions on restructuring supply chains that were built in the days when energy profligacy was simply a variable cost result of the main investment decision.
Energy consumption will become a major input to future decisions.
I wonder if they will all wait for the day of regulation before changing their investment criteria?
''Tim Knowlesis director, ProActivehttp://www.proctive21.com
