Anyone buying tomatoes from supermarkets issued urgent warning this winter | Chronicle Live

Supermarket shoppers are being urged to rethink their winter produce choices, especially when it comes to buying fresh tomatoes. Mike Berners-Lee, a carbon emissions expert and author of "How Bad Are Bananas?", has highlighted a list of foods that should be avoided during the colder months due to their high carbon footprint. Among these are tomatoes, lettuce, asparagus, and strawberries typically found in supermarkets. The main issue is that in winter, tomatoes are no longer grown locally in the UK but are instead flown in from warmer countries or grown in energy-intensive heated glasshouses, both of which rack up a significant amount of carbon emissions. During summer, tomatoes grown in Britain have a much smaller carbon footprint, but winter shopping habits shift dramatically. Foods like tomatoes and strawberries are transported using carbon-heavy freight aircraft, causing unnecessary emissions that contribute to global warming. Berners-Lee stresses the importance of "going seasonal" to cut down on these emissions, advising people to avoid foods that are air-freighted during off-seasons. On the flip side, fruits and vegetables with longer shelf lives, such as apples, bananas, and oranges, are usually shipped by sea, which has a much lower carbon footprint due to the efficiency of ocean freight. He explains that if a food has a short shelf life and isn’t in season locally, it likely involves either heated hothouse production or air freight. For the UK in January, this includes items like lettuce, asparagus, tomatoes, and strawberries. In contrast, apples, oranges, and bananas almost always travel by sea, making them better choices for those wanting to reduce their environmental impact. Berners-Lee suggests that by sticking to seasonal and locally sourced produce, or at least avoiding air-freighted items, people could reduce their carbon emissions from food by about 10%. Beyond just the environmental concerns, Berners-Lee touches on the broader issue of how humans perceive consequences. He points out that while we easily understand direct and immediate effects of our actions, we struggle to grasp the dispersed suffering caused by carbon emissions affecting billions of people worldwide. He compares this to witnessing a violent event up close, suggesting we should find global carbon-related suffering just as shocking. For those lucky enough to grow their own tomatoes in greenhouses, there’s good news. As long as no additional heating or electric lighting is used, growing your own tomatoes during late autumn or early winter results in a minimal carbon footprint. Gardeners with leftover green tomatoes can harvest and ripen them indoors on a sunny windowsill, or even make chutney, which is often praised for its delightful taste during late autumn. This offers an eco-friendly alternative to buying imported tomatoes during the cold months. In summary, the advice is pretty clear: try to buy local, seasonal produce during winter and avoid items that require energy-intensive growing methods or long-distance air transport. This simple change not only helps lower carbon emissions but also supports a more sustainable food system overall.