27 November 2023 , 10:34
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Tomatoes are a staple food for many, as they go perfectly on sandwiches and in salads - but Brits have been warned by an expert not to eat them during December and January.
An academic, who specialises in carbon emissions, has shared a list of foods we should all be looking to avoid in winter, including fresh tomatoes, lettuce, asparagus, and strawberries. 'Why?', we hear you ask. Because if we continue to consume these foods during the colder months, it's seriously bad for the planet because they have to be flown in on highly carbon-intensive freight planes, creating huge carbon emissions, and thus contributing to global warming, reports Yorkshire Live.
Mike Berners-Lee, author of How Bad Are Bananas? has shared that we should try to stick to 'seasonal' foods this festive period, rather than relying on things that have been flown over. Oranges, bananas, and apples are okay to eat from a global warming perspective as they are usually brought by boat, and in terms of carbon emissions, boats are much better.
Mike says: "Go seasonal, avoiding hot houses and air freight. Local seasonal produce is best of all, but shipping is fine. As a guide, if something has a short shelf life and isn't in season where you live, it will probably have had to go to a hothouse or on a plane. In the UK in January examples are lettuce, asparagus, tomatoes, strawberries, and most cut flowers.
Apples, oranges, and bananas, by contrast, almost always go on boats. Adopting this tip religiously can probably deliver a 10 percent [carbon emissions] saving on a typical UK diet."
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Mike also outlined in his book why carbon emissions actually matter, and why people should care. He wrote: "Our species is good at understanding the direct, immediate, and visible consequences of our actions. We are a lot less smart at grasping the consequences when they are dispersed across billions of people whom we will never meet...
"Perhaps we need to find it as shocking when we see dispersed suffering inflicted through needless carbon emissions as it would be to see the same suffering inflicted all in one place in front of our eyes by, let's say, a street stabbing."