Ferry to Sausalito, food miles, Gordon Ramsay and NZ trade

Scoopit!

The concept of food miles continues to bedevil food suppliers. See this Salon article.

It pays regard to the Lincoln University research, but is clear that campaigns such as those run by the Farmers Weekly in the UK have done considerable damage in engendering false perceptions in the minds of consumers.

On a tangential tack, for a moment, Adam has fond memories of visiting the Ferry Plaza market in San Francisco, it is at the old Ferry terminal near where you go to catch the ferries to Sausalito and is a great place to browse and see the sort of quality produce that is available. Then wander the Plaza and have a coffee as you either wait for an outgoing ferry or when you get back.

Should you ever be in San Francisco, go to Sausalito for the day where there are some good restaurants, walk around, have lunch and then take the ferry back in the late afternoon, see Alcatraz from a distance. September and October have some perfect Indian Summer days for this sort of enjoyment.

More seriously though, this article reminds Adam that he has a continuing concern that the NZ trade missions and government generally and exporters need to constantly make sure that we get the message in front of consumers that the carbon footprint on NZ produced food is much less than a superficial view might suggest.

One of the nonsenses that this ‘food miles’ concept has produced is a reported statement by Gordon Ramsay that his restaurants should use only local food, this from a man with a world class restaurant in Dubai!

Mark you, he should stick to cooking, for today he is quoted in the NZ Herald on NZ produce as saying:-

He said he didn’t like to use produce “that’s travelled half way around the world to get to your plate” but acknowledged that New Zealand growers were “stuck between a rock and a hard place”.

There is a big enough national market for New Zealand’s produce without having to send it overseas, Ramsay said.

Yeah right. Gordon stick to cooking, economic analysis is not your strong point.

The danger is that people in the UK listen to him and other celebrity chefs, for example Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall – enlisted in the Farmers Weekly campaign – and implicitly believe what they say and form perceptions accordingly, which is potentially very detrimental to our trading position.

Full marks therefore to Peter Gordon, NZ chef in the UK, who tries to counteract this, but he needs help.

New Zealand needs to take a much more proactive stance on this issue of food miles.

Scoopit!