There's an interesting article over at TreeHugger this week on how (and why) the notion of "Food Miles" oversimplifies local food.
This article raises many of the points I wanted to address in a very popular article I wrote after watching a disappointing report on BBC television's Countryfile.
Local food is a good idea. It is likely to be fresher, which quite likely means more tasty. It's almost certainly going to be seasonal. And it's going to require less fuel to transport (which, ultimately, means less carbon - good news if that's your measurement of choice). Besides which, the money for the food is more likely to go straight back into the local economy. All of which, I'm sure, are very good things, and important to me.
But locally-produced food doesn't automatically guarantee decent welfare for animals; local food won't always be produced without pesticides or fertilisers. And for some people, local food might mean genetically modified food - it's got to be grown somewhere, right?
As for food miles, they are one (vastly over-simplified) measure of the environmental impact of food production and consumption - largely a measure of carbon impact (which, it could be said, is yet another oversimplification). They're certainly not the only consideration.
As ever, the choices come down to what's right for you; what's important according to your own personal principles.
Related articles:
Friday, June 17, 2011
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
"Please scroll down to select size & add to your basket"
If every page on your website says this, you probably want to look at re-designing your page layout.
Especially if the item in question comes in only one size. Much like the "Please scroll down" message. Because, in this case, one size does not fit all.
The fact that the website needs to use this message suggests that they've had problems with their users not being able to find their primary action buttons, their calls to action; Add to Basket, Buy Now, whatever they happen to be called. Which means that they're not obvious enough - perhaps because they're not visible on the screen at target resolution.
But writing a message that users need to look harder - work harder, take another step - and putting it on every page, is not the answer.
Users look for something to click; they don't want to be hunting around. Every moment that users spend looking for a link, a button, is a moment closer to them leaving your website in despair. They don't want to resort to having to read the little, unimportant text on the page; they want a great big call to action. Buy Now.
Especially if the item in question comes in only one size. Much like the "Please scroll down" message. Because, in this case, one size does not fit all.
The fact that the website needs to use this message suggests that they've had problems with their users not being able to find their primary action buttons, their calls to action; Add to Basket, Buy Now, whatever they happen to be called. Which means that they're not obvious enough - perhaps because they're not visible on the screen at target resolution.
But writing a message that users need to look harder - work harder, take another step - and putting it on every page, is not the answer.
Users look for something to click; they don't want to be hunting around. Every moment that users spend looking for a link, a button, is a moment closer to them leaving your website in despair. They don't want to resort to having to read the little, unimportant text on the page; they want a great big call to action. Buy Now.
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