The world’s first carrots to be certified as carbon neutral are being grown in Nottinghamshire by a farmer-owned co-operative.
Freshgrowers, which supplies Chantenay carrots to supermarkets and catering customers across the UK, is using offsetting measures in renewable projects to negate “unavoidable” emissions in the production and harvesting of its carrots.
See also: Morrisons makes 2030 net-zero pledge for farmers
Greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) from the 2021-22 crop show a carbon footprint of 0.03g of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) per kilogram of carrots – in comparison, bananas have a carbon footprint of 0.7kg CO2e.
James Poynter, director of Carbon Neutral Britain, said that by carbon offsetting, Freshgrowers would be reversing any environmental impact from production and harvesting – but that the environmental impact of production was “already quite small”.
“Through Carbon Neutral Britain’s Climate Fund portfolio, Chantenay’s emissions will be offset via renewable projects around the world, resonating well with the growers’ own investments in green energy as a co-operative,” he said.
The carbon measuring and offsetting exercise will be repeated annually, with the next audit due in spring 2023.
New on-pack labelling will be rolled out over the coming weeks.
Planet-friendly
Meanwhile, customers at Morrisons can now buy carbon-neutral eggs after the company announced it had become the first supermarket to launch its own line.
“Planet Friendly Eggs” – priced at £1.50 for half-a-dozen – are produced on farms where hens are fed a soya-free diet of insects, which in turn are grown on food waste from Morrisons’ bakery, fruit and vegetable sites.
© Morrisons
They are also set to be the first eggs to feature the British Lion Egg green stamp, to inform customers of their lower environmental impact.
The eggs are on sale in 50 of Morrisons’ Yorkshire stores and its “lower environmental impact” store in Little Clacton. A national rollout is planned for 2023.
Sophie Throup, head of agriculture at Morrisons, said the business was planning to launch “many more” carbon-neutral products.
“It’s all part of our drive to be directly supplied only by ‘zero-emission’ British farms by 2030,” she said.
