When compiling my food diary I had hoped to find out the specific locations that all the food I consumed came from. I had hoped this would allow me to assess what effect my presumably, relatively average, diet has upon the environment. (By working out the air miles on my personal food consumption).

I eagerly looked in my food cupboard and found myself searching for the ‘country of origin’ on the packaging of everything I ate and drank. What I found was disappointing. Most products simply stated that they were produced in the United Kingdom, but when the ingredients list on some products was investigated, clearly some elements in the product would not have come from the UK. The products may have been ‘mixed/compiled’ in the UK but the individual origins of each ingredient were hazy and not listed. So as for my plan, it was scuppered, as working out where each product came from would only be superficial and lead to most things being from the UK. I was impressed with some products, most if not all fruit and veg detailed its origins and I suppose this was a good point to take in, that most of the fruit and veg I ate was from other countries and most often eaten by me when out of season in this country.

This all taken in to consideration it is encouraging and extremely rewarding to grow and eat your own vegetables, the experience of speaking to others about it and getting involved with ‘Edible Campus’ has been extremely enjoyable. I think that I shall continue to look at what I eat and make an effort to start to change my habits when food shopping. Perhaps easier said than done, but we all have to start somewhere right?