Environmental sustainability

Principles

Food production should conserve and enhance terrestrial and marine ecosystems and natural resources including soil, water and air.

Food should be produced, processed, distributed and disposed of in ways that minimise both its local and global ecological footprint.

Useful organisations and initiatives

Carbon Trust
The Carbon Trust is a not-for-profit company providing specialist support to help business and the public sector to cut carbon emissions and save energy. It provides bespoke advice to businesses throughout the food chain, from producers and processors to distributors and retailers.

Marine Stewardship Council (MSC)
The Marine Stewardship Council provides a set of standards for fisheries to follow sustainable fishing practices and lists species that are okay to eat. Following their guidelines, Sustain have developed a Sustainable Fish Cities campaign to encourage food outlets to source sustainably.

Pesticide Action Network (PAN)
The Pesticide Action Network promotes and provides guidance on Integrated Pest Management (IPM) for non-organic farms to help reduce their use of pesticides. PAN supports farmers to overcome the barriers of converting to IPM, reducing pesticide contamination of biodiversity, soil, water and food.

Soil Association
The Soil Association helps farmers reduce their ecological footprint by adopting organic principles and practices that reduce carbon emissions and water use; remove the need for agro-chemical fertilisers and pesticides; and conserve biodiversity and natural resources.

Waste & Resource Action Plan (WRAP)
WRAP’s vision is a world without waste and is helping to divert 120 million tonnes of waste from landfill. WRAP provides advice and support on how to prevent food and drink waste through its Love Food Hate Waste website, which is full of practical tips on menu-planning, food storage and saving money.
 


 

Stile in field

Facts

  • From field to fork, food and farming is responsible for around one fifth of all the UK's greenhouse gas emissions - as much as all of our transport or all of our domestic power outputs.
     
  • 30,000 tonnes of pesticides and herbicides are used in the UK each year, over 95% of which reach destinations other than their intended target - including wildlife, soil, water and food.
     
  • Every year, 3 million tonnes of food is wasted by the food industry and another 5 million tonnes of perfectly safe food, worth more than £12 billion, is thrown away by UK consumers.
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