Our Food!

The food we eat affects our health, our people and our environment.

So what’s the problem?

• The price of our food keeps going up and
• Some people make a lot of money treating other people unfairly and
• We need to reduce our C02 emissions to help slow down Global warming.
  Why is our food getting more and more expensive?

Our food is getting more expensive because oil prices are rising and will continue to do so because the world is running out of easy to get oil.

What does oil have to do with our food?

Today – everything!

• Our food is being grown all over the world using gigantic machines
• The food on our tables has travelled hundreds of miles by vehicles that use oil

What does oil have to do with Global Warming?

• Anything that uses oil to work creates C02 emissions which contribute towards our earth warming up quicker than it normally would.

What is Carbon dioxide?

CO2 is a colourless and odourless gas. It makes up about

It is produced as a waste product when fuel like oil is used to make energy and it is used as a raw material by plants to make their own food.

Here is a Short animation which visually shows how Carbon dioxide contributes to the warming of the earth: http://www.climatechoices.org.uk/animation/greenhouse.swf

How are some people not being treated fairly?

Many of the countries where we get our food from have thriving cities and businesses benefitting from our need for the food they produce and ship to us. However, outside these cities, in rural communities there’s little evidence of the new-found wealth making its way into the hands of those working on the land to grow our food. This is NOT a fair trade.

Fairtrade is about better prices, decent working conditions, local sustainability, and fair terms of trade for farmers and workers in the developing world.  By requiring companies to pay fairly – ‘Fairtrade’ addresses the injustices of conventional trade and enables more people enables to improve their position and have more control over their lives.

So what can we do?

• Try to buy and eat foods grown and made nearer to where you live
• Try to grow some of your own foods
• Try to eat more foods that are in season
• Try to choose foods that don’t have plastic packaging
• If you buy food that has not been grown in Britain look for food with this label