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One of the main factors to consider when buying groceries is the distance that they have travelled.  Meat, fruit and vegetables travel thousands of miles from across the globe to end up on our supermarket shelves – and all the more as we demand seasonal foods throughout the year.

A simple way to avoid this is to buy locally grown foods wherever possible: farmers markets enable regional producers to sell their produce without having to transport it across the country and buyers can purchase seasonal foods at the ‘right’ time.  Many farmers markets promote organic produce, which removes the impact of pesticides on other plants and animals.

However it is not possible for everybody to buy locally produced food, which is not always easily available and tends to be more expensive than purchasing from supermarkets, so when you do visit the supermarket be sure to look out for the source of each product: it should be clearly labelled.  Adjusting buying habits to purchase locally produced goods in season should minimise the environmental impact of your shopping list!