20 pledges for 2020: Why I'm pledging to buy local and eat with the seasons

Avoiding coffee, chocolate and olive oil while eating seasonally should be possible, shouldn't it?

Eating local produce saves countless air miles needed to transport international foods (iStock)

Over the next year I have pledged to buy only locally produced food and eat what is in season. That means coffee, olive oil, bananas and chocolate - the pillars upon which my diet rests - are all strictly off the menu.

A couple of years ago I switched to a pescatarian diet to try and reduce my climate impact. But many of the staple foods I eat are flown and shipped in from all corners of the globe, racking up thousands of food miles.

And I'm not alone - more than half of the UK's food comes from abroad. The further food travels, the greater the carbon footprint.

From Peruvian avocados to Kenyan green beans and Colombian coffee, our supermarkets are stuffed full of these imported products to ensure we can eat whatever we fancy all year round.

And with food production responsible for one quarter of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, all these food miles have a significant impact on the environment.

I struggle to imagine how I would get by without any imported products at all. But that is exactly what I have pledged to do in an effort to reduce my food miles over the next year by only buying locally produced food.

The Campaign to Protect Rural England defines "local" as within 30 miles of where you live. However living in London is likely to make finding enough food produced within this narrow radius quite a challenge.

So at the very least, I will ensure that all the food I buy this year is produced in Britain.

At the same time, I am planning to stick to eating only seasonal produce. While we can now grow many exotic crops in the UK which would otherwise perish in the climate, this involves carbon-hungry technology such as glasshouses heated by burning gas. .

As awareness of the benefits of eating locally has grown, a plethora of options for sustainable shopping and dining have sprung up across the UK.

From farmers markets, to locally sourced veg boxes and sustainable restaurants, I am looking forward to exploring the various ways to enjoy British produce and eat with the seasons. As alcohol produced abroad is also off limits, I am curious to sample British wine, beer and gin.

But as much as I might enjoy pottering around local markets, I’m fully aware that eating locally is not going to be cheap or easy. Throughout this year I’ll weigh up the challenges and benefits of eating locally and consider whether other methods of cutting carbon from my diet, such as eliminating meat and dairy, is more effective and accessible for others on a similar budget to me.