Do city Farmers' Markets save Food Miles?

Food transported many miles burns up fossil fuel and contributes to global warming. “Food miles” - the total distance in miles the food item is transported from field to plate - has become accepted as a convenient indicator of sustainability. It has led to a general movement towards local production and local consumption.
Since the 1980's, the annual amount of food moved by heavy goods vehicles has increased by 23 percent with the average distance for each trip also up by 50 percent.
We need to get back to basics and look for local food. The rise in food miles has led to increases in the environmental, social and economic burdens associated with transport. These include carbon dioxide emissions, air pollution, congestion, accidents and noise.
Buying local food is clearly the way to go and Farmers' Markets seem to be springing up everywhere. But is the food sold there really local?
Many stallholders travel for four or five hours to city markets which have become big businesses. Some leave their base on a Friday with enough 'stuff' to sell at three or four markets over a weekend. That can hardly be described as 'local' and it also means that produce which should be kept cool may be outside of any form of temperature control for 48 hours before it is finally sold.
At Freeranger Eggs we have a farm policy which limits us to within one hour of the farm – so we don't do any city markets. The closest we get to Melbourne is The Old Cheese Factory at Berwick (tomorrow) and the McKinnon Farmers' Market on the first Saturday every month.
http://www.sustainablemelbourne.com/research/research-food-miles-in-australia-a-preliminary-study-of-melbourne-victoria/

Food Miles

An evaluation of the environmental benefits of 'Food Miles' as a measure for determining the greenhouse impacts of the food we buy has been conducted by staff of the Victorian Government Department of Primary Industries. Their report is at http://www.agrifood.info/connections/2008/Food_Miles_Rama_Lawrence.pdf
It concludes that 'Food Miles' is not a valid indicator of environmental performance but carefully ignores that it can be a vital part of any farm's sustainability processes. We have a farm 'food miles' policy that limits our deliveries to within one hour of the farm. We don't claim that on its own, that makes our eggs and other products 'sustainable'. But combined with our production methods and the way we run our farm business, it is a part of our overall strategy to ensure we have minimal adverse environmental impacts.
It seems to be yet another example of bureaucrats locking themselves in a room and coming up with a document which ignores reality but which tries to push the economic imperitive and the god 'growth'

Demand still outstripping our ability to supply

We are still receiving enquiries for eggs even though all our production is fully committed for supplying our existing customers.
The latest enquiry is from La Trobe University at Bundoora, Melbourne, which wants to phase out cage eggs and introduce free range.
They only need around 60 dozen a week but it's hard for us to guarantee to supply that many when our order book is already full.
The other issue is the distance involved. We have a farm food miles policy which restricts our deliveries to within one hour of the farm.
That's why the only markets we do are Farmers' Markets in our region. Churchill Island is only 15 - 20 minutes away and Inverloch, Korumburra and Pakenham are only 30 - 35 minutes.
We have passed the La Trobe Uni request on to other members of the Free Range Farmers Association to see if anyone is able to supply. It's important to encourage the changeover to free range (especially from an accredited source rather than the pretend free range often seen in supermarkets)

Jamies Fowl Dinners creates a stir

The Jamie Oliver TV show - Jamies Fowl Dinners - was recently broadcast in Melbourne and it created quite a stir.
We had our first enquiry for eggs at 11.20pm after the show. An email came through from a restaurant.
Since then we have received at least three enquiries a day (one wanting to source 5000 eggs).
As a very small egg producer (around 450 dozen each week) there is no way we can take on orders of that size.
Anyway, most of the enquiries were from Melbourne which is outside our delivery run. We have a farm rule which limits us to only delivering within an hour of the farm. The problem of food miles is something we have been very concerned about for years - and we have no intention of adding to the problem.