Driving six and a half miles to buy your shopping emits more
carbon than flying a pack of Kenyan green beans to the UK.
British shoppers spend over £1 million a day on imported
fruit and vegetables from Africa and the livelihoods of more
than a million farmers and their families depend on this trade.
Air-freighting fruit and vegetables from Africa accounts for
less than one-tenth of 1% of the UK's greenhouse gas emissions.
Emissions produced by growing flowers in Kenya and flying
them to the UK can be less than a fifth of those grown in heated
and lighted greenhouses in Holland.
The organic fruit, vegetable and flower export trade to
Europe is worth an approximate US$100 million annually in
exports from developing countries.