Food & Beverage

Celebrity Food Miles

Celebs aren't the only ones with hefty food miles.

The first step to healthy and sustainable eating habits is to eat fresh, local and in season. Modern technology has evolved to the point where we can have pretty much anything and everything anytime we want it - and we want it now.

Celebrities are infamous for their food demands that involve some pretty serious food miles.

In 2006, a pregnant Angelina Jolie had a crate of her favourite Hershey's Pieces candies flown in from Hershey Pennsylvania to Namibia. (12,000 km)
Singing sensation Mariah Carey had her favourite cake flown in from New York for her 40th birthday celebrations in Barbados. (5000 km)
Our world leaders are also known to dine in style (perhaps at the expense of the environment). For the 2008 G8 summit, guests enjoyed champagne flown in directly from France to Japan. (9000 km)
Australian celebrity chef Luke Mangan travels the world cooking up a storm with ingredients flown in from his native Australia. (13,000 km)
Favourite celebrity restaurants are known for flying their ingredients fresh from all corners of the world. Fine Italian dining at Amici Brentwood, frequented by celebrities such as Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell, includes languostine flown in directly from the Mediterranean.
(9000 km)

And this is just getting the product from origin to destination, never mind the food miles of ingredients made from the most exotic locations!

While it's easy to chuckle at celebrities making such outrageous requests, we as consumers are often guilty of the same vices. Consider the "fresh oranges" you're buying during summer months, most of those have been imported from the US. (13000 km). Meanwhile, Australia imported $85 million of Chinese fruit and vegetables alone in 2007, most of which was frozen or canned, which has raised fears of contamination from the recent melamine scare.

It's important for us Australians, who are already blessed with great climate for agriculture, should keep it in our minds to buy fruit and veggies when they're in season. Not only do they tend to be cheaper because of reduced transport and refrigeration costs, but buying in season means your produce is fresh, local and better for the environment.

Coming soon, our in season fruit table!

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