Campaign aims - 2006

Q: Why did we run a food miles campaign?

A: Because bringing in food from all corners of the world is bad for the environment, bad for freshness, bad for food security and bad for traceability.

Q: Who was it aimed at?

A: Consumers, whether they’re the adults doing the buying or the teenage children who are an increasingly important influence on buying decisions

Q: What did we do to get the message across?

A: Several things:

A food miles lunchbox competition to see which school can come up with the healthiest and lowest food mile lunch. Prizes will be awarded at the Royal Show
An editorial campaign in Farmers Weekly focusing on food miles issues and providing case studies where good practice is going on.
Initiatives to raise awareness of the issues involved and give national print and broadcast media the information to highlight the issues involved themselves.
Promotion of the campaign at local and regional shows and involvement with the Farming and Countryside Education (FACE) programme at the Royal Show
A dedicated website with downloadable campaign pack, including a car sticker

Q: Are other organisations thinking along the same lines

A: Yes, a united front of organisations from Greenpeace to the National Trust and from Friends of the Earth to Rick Stein agree that excessive food miles are bad for the environment, bad for freshness and bad for traceability.
Click here for a full list of campaign endorsements ...

Q: How will we know if it’s succeeded?

A: We set ourselves specific targets.

At least 5 million people to have learnt about the food miles issue. This would be done through a variety of channels including:
Coverage of the campaign in at least five national or regional newspapers
Coverage on at least two national and three local TV stations
Endorsement of the campaign by at least 10 celebrities and 20 other organisations
At least 500 people registering with the campaign online
At least 250 supporters of a petition calling for supermarkets to stock, promote and label locally-produced food.
At least 10 schools to have got involved in the food miles campaign.

We exceeded all our targets