The Air Freight Industry and Food Miles Debate

The air freight industry is under attack by The Soil Association and other green campaigners who are worried about the environmental impact of importing out of season produce into the UK from abroad. They claim that the damage caused by pollution from flights transporting food around the world supports their call for a ban on the air-freighting of certain food.

The freight industry has responded strongly to this argument by explaining that the gases produced by air freight transportation only account for a small percentage of the UK?s total carbon emissions. Plus the transportation of out of season food stuffs into the UK represents a small proportion of the total food produce flown into the country.

Furthermore, organic food which is being particularly targeted by The Soil Association requires around 15% less energy to farm than the same amount of non-organic food.

The issue is clearly a contentious one. Climate change is a very real problem as freak weather patterns around the globe are demonstrating. As a result, green issues are at the top of the political agenda of all of the major parties in Britain.

This is a reflection of the concern that the public at large has been shown to have for this issue. The government is therefore under pressure to address the electorate?s concerns and make some changes which may affect the freight industry in a negative way.

One of the measures that they are considering is labeling food to show the amount of miles it has had to travel to get to the UK. These ?food miles? as they are called are meant to be an indication of the environmental cost of bring a particular item into the country. The other option that they are considering is the proposal put forward by The Soil Association to ban the importation of organic food by air freight.

GBS Freight is a freight forwarding company based in the UK that transports cargo around the world by air, sea and road.