Hardly a day passes without some fresh advice for us to modify our lifestyles in the long- term interests of the planet. As we look back on our summer break, how many of us had our consciences pricked by the recent remarks of the Bishop of London regarding the sinfulness of jetting off on our summer holidays or driving around in our gas-guzzling cars?
Food miles have become a key focus of the environmental debate in the media. It is also a subject close to the heart of many Danes, but what is concerning for industries with longstanding food trading relationships with the UK is how the issue is often presented as a straightforward choice between UK-produced or imported foods. This is a gross oversimplification of today's food production and distribution systems, which have given consumers such a broad choice of quality foods all year round.
The emerging debate about food miles has undoubtedly been a factor behind the development of locally sourced food from farmers' markets and other outlets, and the increased diversity of this sourcing is to be welcomed. However, locally sourced cannot simply be translated as any home-produced foods. It should mean locally produced, processed, purchased - and must surely meet all these basic criteria to qualify as locally sourced. And what about the last leg of the journey from farmers' market to consumer's kitchen? Hopefully, it's in the boot of a new biopower, flex-fuel vehicle (rather than a gas-guzzling 4x4) or, even better, in a basket strapped to the handlebars of grandma's rickety old bicycle.
The journey from farm to table is but one of many factors contributing to the overall environmental cost associated with a particular food. For anyone pointing a finger at traditional food exporting countries such as Denmark, Holland and New Zealand, it may come as a surprise that the transport of foods by sea accounts for a very modest proportion of the cost, given the level of foods imported into the UK. The lion's share of the environmental cost of food miles is still accounted for by food journeys within the UK.
The Danish pig producers and food industry have had to face highly restrictive legislation with many cost burdens not (yet) experienced by their European counterparts. A significant share of energy is derived from sustainable sources, and government policy includes positive encouragement for new alternative energy sources, as well as taxes on aspects of modern living that require high energy consumption. Closer to home, while genuinely locally sourced food can deservedly make strong, and wholly legitimate, claims on the basis of its environmental credentials, it is highly debatable whether all home-produced food can claim similar precedence over imported foods. It is not just a question of food miles, but a fuller examination of all the processes involved in bringing a particular food to the dinner table.
Farmers, food processors, food distributors and retailers will all have to do their bit to develop more sustainable and less environmentally damaging production and distribution systems. Let's hope the whole food chain will move forward against a background of considered debate rather than one of shallow rhetoric and petty point-scoring.
And what about consumers? Well, I'm pleased to say I heeded Bishop Chartres' advice and cancelled the cut-price skydiving holiday in Outer Mongolia that I had booked for the family. I'll need all the help I can get if I'm going to pass that final test at the Pearly Gates.
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