News and Analysis • Volume 1 • Number 2 • December 2007
Food miles debate carries on
The bulk of internationally traded goods are transported by water, roads and rail – aviation, however, also plays an important and growing role. While consumers have become increasingly concerned about the ‘carbon footprint’ of the food they eat, the export of fresh produce based on air freighting provides some of the poorest and most vulnerable countries with opportunities for high-value export-led growth.
Organic air freighted goods with strings attached
The Soil Association, a leading certifier of organic products in the UK, has said it will continue to certify air freighted fresh produce from developing countries. The decision came with strings attached - the agricultural products would also have to adhere to strict ethical standards.
According to the Soil Association, emissions of greenhouse gases related to air freighted goods are 177 times greater than those associated with marine transport, and the group had been considering whether to stop labelling productsbased on their carbon footprint.
The organisation had been conducting a four-month consultative process, with participants stressing the need to consider the wider emissions context, including the full supply chain for both imported and local organic products in any comparison.
The Soil Association is pushing exporters to seek alternatives to air freighting whenever possible, its chairwoman, Anna Bradley, said. She noted that “It is neither sustainable nor responsible to encourage poorer farmers to be reliant on air freight, but we recognise that building alternative markets that offer the same social and economic benefits as organic exports take time.”
The Soil Association will be working on the standards over 2008, so they can come into effect in 2009. The exporters would be obliged to comply with the additional ethical standards by 2011.
Exporters weary of additional hurdles
Reactions to the Soil Association announcement were mixed. Development charity Oxfam welcomed the decision, noting the benefits of applying fair trade standards. Duncan Green, head of research at Oxfam, stressed that “curbing greenhouse gas emissions is an urgent and vital task, but rich countries should start by putting their own houses in order, not by effectively boycotting poor ones.”
Alexander Kasterine, an expert on trade and development at the International Trade Centre (ITC) claimed, however, that the Soil Association was missing the point. He said “Food transport has nothing to do with working conditions of farm workers, and only a small proportion of these exporters are currently using fair trade or ethical trade standards.” Patricia Francis, ITC’s executive director added that “Organic production in Africa has been an export success story. ITC is disappointed that the Soil Association will make it harder for African companies to enter lucrative markets. African companies and cooperatives want to trade internationally. To get value-added organic foods onto retail shelves, they have an overwhelming amount of standards to meet. Meeting these standards costs money - laboratories, audits and more. Too many standards will hurt African farmers.”