I watched eco garden programme and was disturbed at the simplistic attitude on carbon miles. Food local good, food from far away bad. it's not that simple, food grown in Kenya with weeds hoed by Kenyans, who are desperate for jobs is surely better than vegs grown using massive amounts of fertiliser and weed killers locally. I have seen veg farms in Kenya and have been very impressed with the ecological awareness. And as for the New Zealand meat - it was probably from an animal grown in a natural environment on an extensive grazing programme, rather than in an intensive farm remote from their natural life. The NZ Meat board can supply figures that prove despite the miles travelled their meat is actually more environmentally friendly once the whole picture is examined. Maybe a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. I note the frontsperson has no problem jetting to USA to design gardens, how important to the ecosystem is that?

Good on you, Wattie4 - the points you make are valid. I've read that some products grown in eco-friendly conditions have a lesser carbon footprint (even through they are transported long distances) than many grown and sold in local areas. It seems road and sea transport is better for the earth than air transport, though even with air travel the base conditions under which the produce was grown will often compensate for the carbon miles by plane.

As you rightly point out, no one seems to object to jetting abroad when it's themselves and not the veg that's getting the trip.