“Food miles” is a term which refers to the distance food travels from the time of its production until it reaches the consumer or end-user. It is one dimension used in assessing the environmental impact of food.

The going line of thought at the moment is that Food miles cause emission of CO2 and therefore need to be paid for. The moment New Zealand as a nation is locked into the Kyoto Protocol we must adhere to the agreed CO2 emission. The moment we increase our emission we must buy carbon credits (It is a mystery from where these should come but we will find out for you)

Although the government puts us in this predicament in the first place, it will be user pays and thus the CO2 emission for food miles need to be paid for by the exporters who in turn need to increase their prices and thus lose export earning ability. Make no mistake. This affects every one of us.

Placing a cap on CO2 emission is the same as placing a cap on economic growth. Every activity emits CO2 even a walk in the park.

However, we caught this hoax on time because New Zealand can still pull out of the Kyoto Protocol without any consequences. As long as New Zealand pulls out of the Kyoto scam before February 2008 we should be alright.

Carbon Tax will affect our economy:

• We must pay between $600 million and $4.2 billion dollars because of CO2 emissions as stipulated in the Kyoto agreement
• Our taxes will rise as a result
• Burocracy will grow due to a complex CO2 administration
• Fuel, Energy and Food prices will rise.
• Manufacturing and building cost will rise
• Our export will collapse due to the cost of “food miles”