An old pal of mine was self flagellating recently.
Not literally, I hasten to add.
But it was just as difficult to witness.
The kvetching, the hand wringing, the twisting and the turning, the guilt so palpable as to be almost visible for goodness’ sake.
The cause?
The return flights that he, his missus and their kids had taken to go on holiday this last half term. More specifically, the impact of those flights on the environment.
As kindly as I could, I told him to shut up.
This wasn’t because I don’t like him. I do, hugely. And it wasn’t because I don’t care about the environment. I do, hugely.
It was because I needed to point out to him what Al Gore might call An Inconvenient Truth….
Because aviation - while important - accounts for no more than 3% of total CO2 emissions. Food and agriculture emissions, on the other hand, account for about 30%.
Yep, you read that right. Between flying and food, there’s a 10X difference in greenhouse gas emissions.
And you can compound that difference by thinking about how many times a year you eat compared to how many times a year you fly.
So, I said to my pal, if you really care about the environment, stop endlessly interrogating yourself about the rights and wrongs of the odd flight here and there* and ask yourself a more important question.
A simpler question.
A question to which the answer affords you a daily opportunity to positively impact the future of our planet.
What’s for dinner tonight?
Go British.
Go regenerative.
Go biodynamic.
Go organic.
Go Wylde.
Nick
P.S. - don’t forget to order your Christmas food at our Christmas Market.
*we all live on a rainy, cold, windswept island in the North Atlantic. It’s an absolutely magical place in so very many respects, of course. But don’t even the hardiest among us sometimes fancy a few days in slightly sunnier climes?! (Take a look outside your window this morning before answering 😬)