“Food Miles” Shredded by Chef

NZ celebrity chef Peter Gordon has made discrediting the “food miles myth” and promoting quality NZ produce his mission in the UK. In recent months, the London-based chef has appeared on British TV, met with industry officials and written an article in The Independent in a bid to open up dialogue on the increasingly contentious issue. “The term food miles just needs to be dropped – that’s the best thing we could do,” he says in Wellington’s Dominion Post. “A lot of people think the carbon footprint is entirely in the transport, but it’s in the production, the [air-conditioned] buildings and the people in the offices … There are good people doing good things in New Zealand and to have their future at threat because of two words is a real shame.” Gordon’s views are backed up by a recent study at Lincoln University study which found that NZ lamb sold in Britain was four times as energy efficient as its local product.