Newspapers often claim that local sustainable food is pointless. Here are some of the claims they make to try and confuse us…

Myth Number 1: I’d have to live on turnips.

Well actually…It’s true that life without imports would be very dull. Exotic items like coffee, tea, spices, lemons, bananas, and plantains can only come from imports, but most apples, biscuits, cheese milk and potatoes don’t need to. At the moment we even import some of the same produce we are exporting!

Myth Number 2: Farmers abroad would go out of business.

Well actually…By using land in Africa for crops that could be grown here we are storing up trouble. Future problems with fossil fuel prices and water shortages mean that African farmers will need a more locally based economy and so will we.

Myth Number 3: Buying local could make carbon emissions worse.

Well actually…The ‘ecological footprint’ of food comes from many elements. Full lifecycle analysis is complex and difficult. Refrigeration during distribution and in the stores is a major part, as is fuel, fertiliser, and pesticides on the farm. This means that local, seasonal, and low packaged is best for the environment even if a van delivers it to your door.

Myth Number 4: It rewards inefficient businesses.

Well actually…The so-called ‘efficiency’ of agribusiness actually hides inefficient use of natural resources like soil, water, oil, phosphates etc. So unless consumers consciously support small ethical producers, we could lose the independents entirely. The Competition Commission is very concerned about monopoly in the food industry.

Myth Number 5: It’s a rip off; organic is far too expensive.

Well actually…The organic fruit and vegetable trade is important to the multiple chain stores, and they tend to charge high prices because they know that people who choose organic are making a choice on ethics rather than price. This creates the perception that organic is always expensive. Local veg boxes are generally cheaper than the same produce bought in a supermarket.

Myth Number 6: They say the only way is vegan and that’s impossible.

Well actually…People living in Britain have eaten meat, especially grass fed beef, and animal products (milk, eggs, cheese, butter) for many centuries. The concern now is about the quantity of meat and about the practice of growing grain, to then feed to livestock for meat. This has a big ecological footprint compared to if we just ate the grain ourselves. So whether or not you eat meat is a very personal decision, but you can eat in an environmentally responsible way without being vegan.

Myth number 7: People on a tight budget wouldn’t be able to eat at all.

Well actually…It is true that people on the very lowest incomes in Britain cannot afford to eat a healthy diet. This is a matter of social justice, and the solution is better income equality. Using low income as a justification for poor quality food is similar to the argument John Reid used when as Health Secretary he said that poorer people needed to smoke (and therefore suffer health damage and economic hardship) because it was one of their few pleasures.

Myth Number 8: It’s not my job to solve these problems.

Well actually…Without a sustainable food system we will all suffer. Leaving it just to market forces has given us short-term convenience and choice, but at the expense of unfairness for workers, poor animal welfare, pollution, and loss of important resources.

Myth Number 9: There’s no point, because nobody else is going to bother.

Well actually…It is easy to think this, but market research and the findings of our own Citizens Panel in Bristol show that people from every part of the City and from all walks of life are concerned about how food is produced, and about the welfare of workers and of animals. Some of the less responsible food industry players have deliberately portrayed concerns as ‘middle class’ and ‘elitist’ in order to belittle them.

Myth Number 10: The only way to feed the world is with genetically modified crops and agribusiness.

Well actually…Agribusiness uses around 8 calories of fossil fuel energy to produce one calorie of food. Fuel, water, and phosphates will soon be scarce so current methods of farming can’t feed the world. Much of what you read in newspapers is more about protecting the vested interests of major food companies than it is about giving fair and balanced reports of what the science is telling us. What is certain is that we have to produce food in a way that maintains rather than destroys the very things upon which future food production depends, in particular soil, water, and biodiversity. Organic is one way of doing this.

Myth Number 11: It’s all a scam invented by bossy do-gooders.

Well actually…Do you really think that TV ads, magazines, art, aren’t bossing you around? Their combined effect shapes our culture, and we tend to end up doing ‘what people like me do’ and eating ‘what people like me eat’. The result is that healthy and ethical choices have become stereotyped as ‘a bit weird’. If we care about the future of food we need to redress the balance.