The simple act of eating can be an ethical minefield these days. Increasingly, being green means eating green but it’s hard to work out what all the jargon really means: from 'food miles' to 'fair trade', read on to find out. Here's our green tips guide to ethical eating: for any green family.

'Food Miles'

Using 'food miles' is one way to measure the environmental impact of the food we eat. The further your food is transported, the more carbon emissions are produced. Therefore, by working out the distance your dinner has travelled before it ends up on your plate, you can have some idea of how your eating habits affect your carbon footprint.

It does get a bit more complicated than that. For instance, in some cases it might be more energy efficient to transport non-native foods (such as exotic fruits) from countries with a warmer climate than it would be to grow them in heated greenhouses in the UK. However, in general terms you will be doing the planet a favour if you eat food that was grown and processed locally to where you live instead of buying imported foodstuffs.

Organic eating

Organic farming limits the use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides, as well as the use of antibiotics in livestock. To qualify as organic, produce needs to meet certain legally defined standards and producers need to pay for certification by an organic organisation such as the Soil Association (http://www.soilassociation.org/).

Farming in an organic way is less energy intensive, and reduces the risk of pollution caused by chemical fertilisers and pesticides. It also allows biodiversity of animals and plants to flourish and proponents of organic farming are keen to promote its health benefits.

On the negative side, organic farming it is more labour intensive and time intensive than conventional methods, and animals and plants are more vulnerable to disease meaning that organic food costs more. Lower yields also mean that organic methods may not be a worldwide solution.

Fairtrade food

Focused on working conditions rather than environmental concerns, Fairtrade is about ensuring farmers in the developing world can get a good price for their produce in the often ruthless world of international trade. To get the Fairtrade mark products need to meet certain international trading standards defined by the Fairtrade Foundation (http://www.fairtrade.org.uk/).

Tips for ethical eating

1. Buy locally: if possible buy direct from suppliers and farm shops, or through veg box schemes
2. Buy in season: buying local food in season reduces the need for imports; after all we don’t really need strawberries in December, do we?
3. Grow your own: set up a veg patch in your back garden
4. Eat less meat: rearing animals is more energy intensive than growing crops and livestock such as cows also give off methane (a greenhouse gas)
5. Avoid overly packaged food: extra packaging takes extra energy to make and transport and often ends up on landfill sites