There was a green theme running through the 176th Suffolk Show which I visited today. Together with the County Council the Show Association launched a campaign to make Suffolk the greenest county. And there was a stand explaining all the little things people can do that could, collectively, bring this about.
Closer to farmers pocket books was a major exhibition promoting local food and urging consumers to consider the food miles involved in imported foods. The stand contained nuggets of information that might persuade them to change their buying habits.
For instance, it was stated that according to DEFRA the distance UK food travelled increased by 15% between 1992 and 2002 with obvious implications for the emission of greenhouse gases and global warming. Information on the stand also explained how the food trade gap between what we import and what we export had more than doubled in ten years as British farmers contribution to the national diet had declined.
Consumers were urged to look more closely at country of origin labels and choose what to buy accordingly. They were advised to eat home grown food in season; to use farmers own shops and markets; to look up local food producers on the internet.
Alongside was a cookery demonstration where local ingredients were being used to make delicious dishes. The demonstrators used superb local fruit, veg and meat and invited members of the audience to sample them.
Which reminded me of an item I heard on Radio 4 this morning. A lady from the vegan society was complaining that cattle were the cause of significant quantities of greenhouse gas. She meant methane, of course, and we all know from where it is emitted. NFU President, Peter Kendall did his best to persuade her that science could probably come up with cattle foods that led to less flatulence. But the vegan lady was determined that all the cattle in the world should be phased out and the human race should eat pulses and vegetables instead of meat.
But when I eat pulses, especially beans, I find I become more flatulent, not less. So, her arguments don't stack up. Unless, of course, she wants to phase out the human race as well as cattle. In which case lets phase out vegans first.