People OR Planet?

Perhaps the biggest debate within the ethical lifestyles movement that has rapidly leaped onto the public agenda is an apparent trade-off between people ((Fairtrade) food produced in the developing world that is key to escaping the poverty trap) and planet (the food miles involved in such global supply chains and the carbon emissions associated with them).

Do we go for local food that has only travelled a few dozen miles to arrive at our doorstep, or do we choose food produced halfway around the world that is an integral part of economic survival for producers? A BBC article reports on the dangers that 'the green backlash' could pose to millions of farmers, particularly in Africa, whose agricultural produce is destined for UK supermarket shelves. A misguided kind of UK consumer pressure towards food miles, it writes, could threaten the survival of entire industries, leaving millions worse off for comparatively little reductions in carbon emissions.

What struck me particularly were the opening lines of the article:
"What is global warming?", asks Samuel Mauthike, a small scale vegetable farmer in Kirinyaga, Kenya's central province, as he crouches down compressing the moist soil around his green bean plants.

"Is it something caused by us in Africa?"

This point is particularly relevant - in making food miles a central concern do we end discriminating against those who have contributed the least to climate change? All of a sudden, African farmers are perplexed by consumers demanding less of their product just because it comes from distant lands, asking 'hold on, have we done something wrong?' We should, of course, be trying to cut carbon emissions everywhere that we can, and in development terms be searching for low-carbon growth and development.

Perhaps the high dependence of developing-country farmers upon Western markets means that to cut them off would only lead to more environmentally-destructive behaviour out of desperation; when we can break the cycle of poverty through trade, more secure livelihoods enable sustainability to be taken into greater consideration. There is a big picture to remember - and a more sustainable world must also necessarily be a fairer, inclusive one.

An online debate among People and Planet members that explores these issues can be accessed here.