Food miles
Encyclopedia
Food miles is a term which refers to the distance food
is transport
ed from the time of its production until it reaches the consumer
. Food miles are one factor used when assessing the environmental
impact of food, including the impact on global warming
.
The concept of food miles originated in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. It was conceived by Professor Tim Lang, at the Sustainable Agriculture Food and Environment (SAFE) Alliance and first appeared in print in a report “The Food Miles Report: The dangers of long-distance food transport”, researched and written by Angela Paxton.
Some scholars believe that an increase in the miles food travels is due to the globalization
of trade; the focus of food supply bases into fewer, larger districts; drastic changes in delivery patterns; the increase in processed and packaged foods; and making fewer trips to the supermarket. At the same time, most of the greenhouse gas
emissions created by food have their origin in the production phases, which create 83% of overall emissions of CO2.
A range of studies compare emissions over the entire food cycle, including production, consumption, and transport. These include estimates of food-related emissions of greenhouse gas 'up to the farm gate' versus 'beyond the farm gate'. In the UK, for example, agricultural-related emissions may account for approximately 40% of the overall food chain (including retail, packaging, fertilizer manufacture, and other factors), whereas greenhouse gases emitted in transport account for around 12% of overall food-chain emissions. The goal of environmental protection agencies is to make people aware of the environmental impact of food miles and to show the pollution percentage and the energy used to transport food over long distances. Researchers are currently working to provide the public with more information.
which deals with a large range of environmental, social and economic issues, including local food
. The term was coined by Tim Lang (now Professor of Food Policy, City University, London
) who says: "The point was to highlight the hidden ecological, social and economic consequences of food production to consumers in a simple way, one which had objective reality but also connotations." Food that is transported by road produces more carbon emissions than any other form of transported food. Road transport produces 60% of the world's food transport carbon emissions. Air transport produces 20% of the world's food transport carbon emissions. Rail and sea transport produce 10% each of the world's food transport carbon emissions.
Although it was never intended as a complete measure of environmental impact, it has come under attack as an ineffective means of finding the true environmental impact. For example, a DEFRA report in 2005 undertaken by researchers at AEA Technology
Environment, entitled The Validity of Food Miles as an Indicator of Sustainable Development, included findings that "the direct environmental, social and economic costs of food transport are over £9 billion each year, and are dominated by congestion." The report also indicates that it is not only how far the food has travelled but the method of travel in all parts of the food chain that is important to consider. Many trips by personal cars to shopping centres would have a negative environmental impact compared to transporting a few truckloads to neighbourhood stores that can be easily reached by walking or cycling. Also, the positive environmental effects of organic farming
may be compromised by increased transport
ation, unless it is produced by local farm
s.
, famously focused on cost-saving efficiency, was an early adopter of food miles as a profit-maximizing strategy. More recently, Wal-Mart has embraced the environmental benefits of supply chain
efficiency as well. In 2006, Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott said, "The benefits of the strategy are undeniable, whether you look through the lens of greenhouse gas
reduction or the lens of cost savings. What has become so obvious is that 'a
green strategy' provides better value for our customers".
Wegman's, a 71-store chain across the northeast, has purchased local foods for over 20 years. In their case, the produce manager in each store controls the influx of local foods, the relationships with the local farms are not centrally controlled. A recent study led by Professor Miguel Gomez (Applied Economics and Management), at Cornell University
and supported by the Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future
found that in many instances, the supermarket supply chain did much better in terms of food miles and fuel consumption for each pound compared to farmers markets. It suggests that selling local foods through supermarkets may be more economically viable and sustainable than through farmers markets.
that also contribute to greenhouse gas
emissions which are not taken into account by simple "food miles" measurements. There are benefits to be gained by improving livelihoods in poor countries through agricultural development. Smallholder farmers in poor countries can often improve their income and standard of living if they can sell to distant export markets for higher value horticultural produce, moving away from the subsistence agriculture of producing staple crops for their own consumption or local markets.
However, exports from poor countries do not always benefit poor people. Unless the product has a Fairtrade label, or a label from another robust and independent scheme, food exports might make a bad situation worse. For example, wages are often very low and working conditions bad and sometimes dangerous. Sometimes the food grown for export takes up land that had been used to grow food for local consumption, so local people can go hungry.
is used in its production. A recent DEFRA case study indicated that tomato
es grown in Spain
and transported to the United Kingdom
may have a lower carbon footprint in terms of energy efficiency
than tomatoes grown in heated greenhouse
s in the United Kingdom.
According to German researchers the food miles concept misleads consumers because the size of transportation and production units is not taken into account. Using the methodology of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) in accordance to ISO 14040
entire supply chains to provide German consumers with food were investigated, comparing local food with food of European and global provenance. As a matter of fact an increasing size of transportation and production units leads to decreasing energy use per kilogram food. Research reports from the Chair of Process Engineering in Food and Service Business, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Elmar H. Schlich at Justus Liebig University Giessen, Germany, define and establish the term and theory of "Ecologies of Scale", by analogy to the well-known term of "Economies of Scale
". In terms of energy use
per kilogram small food production units may cause even more environmental impact compared to bigger units even if the food miles are lower. Case studies of lamb meat, beef, bottled wine, apples, fruit juices and pork meat gave evidence to this and disproved the food miles concept as too simple.
A 2006 research report from the Agribusiness and Economics Research Unit at Lincoln University, New Zealand
counters claims about food miles by comparing total energy used in food production in Europe
and New Zealand
, taking into account energy used to ship the food to Europe for consumers. The report states, "New Zealand has greater production efficiency in many food commodities compared to the UK. For example New Zealand agriculture
tends to apply fewer fertilizer
s (which require large amounts of energy to produce and cause significant CO2 emissions) and animals are able to graze
year round outside eating grass instead of large quantities of brought-in feed
such as concentrate
s. In the case of dairy
and sheep meat production NZ is by far more energy efficient
, even including the transport cost, than the UK, twice as efficient in the case of dairy, and four times as efficient in case of sheep meat
. In the case of apple
s, NZ is more energy-efficient even though the energy embodied in capital items and other inputs data was not available for the UK."
Other researchers have contested the claims from New Zealand. Professor Gareth Edwards-Jones has said that the arguments “in favour of New Zealand apples shipped to the UK is probably true only or about two months a year, during July and August, when the carbon footprint for locally grown fruit doubles because it comes out of cool stores.”
Studies of the total carbon footprint
of food production in the U.S. have shown transportation to be of minor importance, compared to the carbon emissions resulting from pesticide and fertilizer production, and the fuel required by farm and food processing equipment.
emissions. That figure includes the clearing of land to feed and graze the animals. Clearing land of trees, and cultivation, are the main drivers of farming emissions. Deforestation
eliminates carbon sinks, accelerating the process of climate change
. Cultivation, including the use of synthetic fertilisers, releases greenhouse gases such as nitrous oxide. Nitrogen fertiliser is especially demanding of fossil fuels, as producing a tonne of it takes 1.5 tonnes of oil.
Meanwhile, it’s increasingly recognised that meat
and dairy
are the largest sources of food-related emissions. The UK’s consumption of meat and dairy products (including imports) accounts for about 8% of national greenhouse gas
emissions related to consumption.
According to a study by engineers Christopher Weber and H. Scott Matthews of Carnegie Mellon University
, of all the greenhouse gases emitted by the food industry, only 4% comes from transporting the food from producers to retailers. The study also concluded that adopting a vegetarian diet, even if the vegetarian food is transported over very long distances, does far more to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, than does eating a locally grown diet.
, a technique that meshes together a wide range of different environmental criteria including emissions and waste, is a more holistic way of assessing the real environmental impact of the food we eat. The technique accounts for energy input and output involved in the production, processing, packaging and transport of food. It also factors in resource depletion
, air pollution and water pollution
and waste generation/municipal solid waste.
A number of organisations are developing ways of calculating the carbon cost or lifecycle impact of food and agriculture. Some are more robust than others but, at the moment, there is no easy way to tell which ones are thorough, independent and reliable, and which ones are just marketing hype.
Food
Food is any substance consumed to provide nutritional support for the body. It is usually of plant or animal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals...
is transport
Transport
Transport or transportation is the movement of people, cattle, animals and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, rail, road, water, cable, pipeline, and space. The field can be divided into infrastructure, vehicles, and operations...
ed from the time of its production until it reaches the consumer
Consumer
Consumer is a broad label for any individuals or households that use goods generated within the economy. The concept of a consumer occurs in different contexts, so that the usage and significance of the term may vary.-Economics and marketing:...
. Food miles are one factor used when assessing the environmental
Environmentalism
Environmentalism is a broad philosophy, ideology and social movement regarding concerns for environmental conservation and improvement of the health of the environment, particularly as the measure for this health seeks to incorporate the concerns of non-human elements...
impact of food, including the impact on global warming
Global warming
Global warming refers to the rising average temperature of Earth's atmosphere and oceans and its projected continuation. In the last 100 years, Earth's average surface temperature increased by about with about two thirds of the increase occurring over just the last three decades...
.
The concept of food miles originated in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. It was conceived by Professor Tim Lang, at the Sustainable Agriculture Food and Environment (SAFE) Alliance and first appeared in print in a report “The Food Miles Report: The dangers of long-distance food transport”, researched and written by Angela Paxton.
Some scholars believe that an increase in the miles food travels is due to the globalization
Globalization
Globalization refers to the increasingly global relationships of culture, people and economic activity. Most often, it refers to economics: the global distribution of the production of goods and services, through reduction of barriers to international trade such as tariffs, export fees, and import...
of trade; the focus of food supply bases into fewer, larger districts; drastic changes in delivery patterns; the increase in processed and packaged foods; and making fewer trips to the supermarket. At the same time, most of the greenhouse gas
Greenhouse gas
A greenhouse gas is a gas in an atmosphere that absorbs and emits radiation within the thermal infrared range. This process is the fundamental cause of the greenhouse effect. The primary greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere are water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone...
emissions created by food have their origin in the production phases, which create 83% of overall emissions of CO2.
A range of studies compare emissions over the entire food cycle, including production, consumption, and transport. These include estimates of food-related emissions of greenhouse gas 'up to the farm gate' versus 'beyond the farm gate'. In the UK, for example, agricultural-related emissions may account for approximately 40% of the overall food chain (including retail, packaging, fertilizer manufacture, and other factors), whereas greenhouse gases emitted in transport account for around 12% of overall food-chain emissions. The goal of environmental protection agencies is to make people aware of the environmental impact of food miles and to show the pollution percentage and the energy used to transport food over long distances. Researchers are currently working to provide the public with more information.
Overview
The concept of food miles is part of the broader issue of sustainabilitySustainability
Sustainability is the capacity to endure. For humans, sustainability is the long-term maintenance of well being, which has environmental, economic, and social dimensions, and encompasses the concept of union, an interdependent relationship and mutual responsible position with all living and non...
which deals with a large range of environmental, social and economic issues, including local food
Local food
Local food or the local food movement is a "collaborative effort to build more locally based, self-reliant food economies - one in which sustainable food production, processing, distribution, and consumption is integrated to enhance the economic, environmental and social health of a particular...
. The term was coined by Tim Lang (now Professor of Food Policy, City University, London
City University, London
City University London , is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom. It was founded in 1894 as the Northampton Institute and became a university in 1966, when it adopted its present name....
) who says: "The point was to highlight the hidden ecological, social and economic consequences of food production to consumers in a simple way, one which had objective reality but also connotations." Food that is transported by road produces more carbon emissions than any other form of transported food. Road transport produces 60% of the world's food transport carbon emissions. Air transport produces 20% of the world's food transport carbon emissions. Rail and sea transport produce 10% each of the world's food transport carbon emissions.
Although it was never intended as a complete measure of environmental impact, it has come under attack as an ineffective means of finding the true environmental impact. For example, a DEFRA report in 2005 undertaken by researchers at AEA Technology
AEA Technology
AEA Technology plc was formed in 1996 as the privatised offshoot of the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority. It is a constituent of the FTSE Fledgling Index. Originally it consisted of divisions with expertise in a wide variety of areas, mostly the products of nuclear-related research...
Environment, entitled The Validity of Food Miles as an Indicator of Sustainable Development, included findings that "the direct environmental, social and economic costs of food transport are over £9 billion each year, and are dominated by congestion." The report also indicates that it is not only how far the food has travelled but the method of travel in all parts of the food chain that is important to consider. Many trips by personal cars to shopping centres would have a negative environmental impact compared to transporting a few truckloads to neighbourhood stores that can be easily reached by walking or cycling. Also, the positive environmental effects of organic farming
Organic farming
Organic farming is the form of agriculture that relies on techniques such as crop rotation, green manure, compost and biological pest control to maintain soil productivity and control pests on a farm...
may be compromised by increased transport
Transport
Transport or transportation is the movement of people, cattle, animals and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, rail, road, water, cable, pipeline, and space. The field can be divided into infrastructure, vehicles, and operations...
ation, unless it is produced by local farm
Farm
A farm is an area of land, or, for aquaculture, lake, river or sea, including various structures, devoted primarily to the practice of producing and managing food , fibres and, increasingly, fuel. It is the basic production facility in food production. Farms may be owned and operated by a single...
s.
Food miles in business
Business leaders such as Skidmore Professor James Kennelly have adopted food miles as a model for understanding inefficiency in a food supply chain. Wal-MartWal-Mart
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. , branded as Walmart since 2008 and Wal-Mart before then, is an American public multinational corporation that runs chains of large discount department stores and warehouse stores. The company is the world's 18th largest public corporation, according to the Forbes Global 2000...
, famously focused on cost-saving efficiency, was an early adopter of food miles as a profit-maximizing strategy. More recently, Wal-Mart has embraced the environmental benefits of supply chain
Supply chain
A supply chain is a system of organizations, people, technology, activities, information and resources involved in moving a product or service from supplier to customer. Supply chain activities transform natural resources, raw materials and components into a finished product that is delivered to...
efficiency as well. In 2006, Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott said, "The benefits of the strategy are undeniable, whether you look through the lens of greenhouse gas
Greenhouse gas
A greenhouse gas is a gas in an atmosphere that absorbs and emits radiation within the thermal infrared range. This process is the fundamental cause of the greenhouse effect. The primary greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere are water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone...
reduction or the lens of cost savings. What has become so obvious is that 'a
green strategy' provides better value for our customers".
Wegman's, a 71-store chain across the northeast, has purchased local foods for over 20 years. In their case, the produce manager in each store controls the influx of local foods, the relationships with the local farms are not centrally controlled. A recent study led by Professor Miguel Gomez (Applied Economics and Management), at Cornell University
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
and supported by the Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future
Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future
The David R. Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future is a research organization created in Fall 2007 at Cornell University. ACSF advances multidisciplinary research in Energy, the Environment and Economic Development, and cultivates collaborations within and beyond Cornell.- History :ACSF,...
found that in many instances, the supermarket supply chain did much better in terms of food miles and fuel consumption for each pound compared to farmers markets. It suggests that selling local foods through supermarkets may be more economically viable and sustainable than through farmers markets.
Calculating food miles
With processed foods that are made of many different ingredients, it is very complicated, though not impossible, to calculate the CO2 emissions from transport by multiplying the distance travelled of each ingredient, by the carbon intensity of the mode of transport (air, road or rail). However, as both Prof. Lang and the original Food Miles report noted, the resulting number – although interesting, cannot give the whole picture of how sustainable – or not – a food product is. Its value is in highlighting one of the many damaging aspects of the current, globalised food and farming system.Fair trade
According to Oxfam researchers, there are many other aspects of the agricultural processing and the food supply chainSupply chain
A supply chain is a system of organizations, people, technology, activities, information and resources involved in moving a product or service from supplier to customer. Supply chain activities transform natural resources, raw materials and components into a finished product that is delivered to...
that also contribute to greenhouse gas
Greenhouse gas
A greenhouse gas is a gas in an atmosphere that absorbs and emits radiation within the thermal infrared range. This process is the fundamental cause of the greenhouse effect. The primary greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere are water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone...
emissions which are not taken into account by simple "food miles" measurements. There are benefits to be gained by improving livelihoods in poor countries through agricultural development. Smallholder farmers in poor countries can often improve their income and standard of living if they can sell to distant export markets for higher value horticultural produce, moving away from the subsistence agriculture of producing staple crops for their own consumption or local markets.
However, exports from poor countries do not always benefit poor people. Unless the product has a Fairtrade label, or a label from another robust and independent scheme, food exports might make a bad situation worse. For example, wages are often very low and working conditions bad and sometimes dangerous. Sometimes the food grown for export takes up land that had been used to grow food for local consumption, so local people can go hungry.
Energy used in production as well as transport
Researchers say a more complete environmental assessment of food that consumers buy needs to take into account how the food has been produced and what energyEnergy
In physics, energy is an indirectly observed quantity. It is often understood as the ability a physical system has to do work on other physical systems...
is used in its production. A recent DEFRA case study indicated that tomato
Tomato
The word "tomato" may refer to the plant or the edible, typically red, fruit which it bears. Originating in South America, the tomato was spread around the world following the Spanish colonization of the Americas, and its many varieties are now widely grown, often in greenhouses in cooler...
es grown in Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
and transported to the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
may have a lower carbon footprint in terms of energy efficiency
Efficient energy use
Efficient energy use, sometimes simply called energy efficiency, is the goal of efforts to reduce the amount of energy required to provide products and services. For example, insulating a home allows a building to use less heating and cooling energy to achieve and maintain a comfortable temperature...
than tomatoes grown in heated greenhouse
Greenhouse
A greenhouse is a building in which plants are grown. These structures range in size from small sheds to very large buildings...
s in the United Kingdom.
According to German researchers the food miles concept misleads consumers because the size of transportation and production units is not taken into account. Using the methodology of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) in accordance to ISO 14040
ISO 14000
The ISO 14000 environmental management standards exist to help organizations minimize how their operations negatively affect the environment The ISO 14000 environmental management standards exist to help organizations (a) minimize how their operations (processes etc.) negatively affect the...
entire supply chains to provide German consumers with food were investigated, comparing local food with food of European and global provenance. As a matter of fact an increasing size of transportation and production units leads to decreasing energy use per kilogram food. Research reports from the Chair of Process Engineering in Food and Service Business, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Elmar H. Schlich at Justus Liebig University Giessen, Germany, define and establish the term and theory of "Ecologies of Scale", by analogy to the well-known term of "Economies of Scale
Economies of scale
Economies of scale, in microeconomics, refers to the cost advantages that an enterprise obtains due to expansion. There are factors that cause a producer’s average cost per unit to fall as the scale of output is increased. "Economies of scale" is a long run concept and refers to reductions in unit...
". In terms of energy use
Energy use
Energy use or similar terms are discussed in the following articles:* Efficient energy use* World energy resources and consumption* energy use intensity...
per kilogram small food production units may cause even more environmental impact compared to bigger units even if the food miles are lower. Case studies of lamb meat, beef, bottled wine, apples, fruit juices and pork meat gave evidence to this and disproved the food miles concept as too simple.
A 2006 research report from the Agribusiness and Economics Research Unit at Lincoln University, New Zealand
Lincoln University, New Zealand
Lincoln University is a New Zealand university that was formed in 1990 when Lincoln College, Canterbury was made independent of the University of Canterbury...
counters claims about food miles by comparing total energy used in food production in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, taking into account energy used to ship the food to Europe for consumers. The report states, "New Zealand has greater production efficiency in many food commodities compared to the UK. For example New Zealand agriculture
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
tends to apply fewer fertilizer
Fertilizer
Fertilizer is any organic or inorganic material of natural or synthetic origin that is added to a soil to supply one or more plant nutrients essential to the growth of plants. A recent assessment found that about 40 to 60% of crop yields are attributable to commercial fertilizer use...
s (which require large amounts of energy to produce and cause significant CO2 emissions) and animals are able to graze
Grazing
Grazing generally describes a type of feeding, in which a herbivore feeds on plants , and also on other multicellular autotrophs...
year round outside eating grass instead of large quantities of brought-in feed
Compound feed
Compound feeds are feedstuffs that are blended from various raw materials and additives. These blends are formulated according to the specific requirements of the target animal...
such as concentrate
Concentrate
A concentrate is a form of substance which has had the majority of its base component removed. Typically this will be the removal of water from a solution or suspension such as the removal of water from fruit juice...
s. In the case of dairy
Dairy
A dairy is a business enterprise established for the harvesting of animal milk—mostly from cows or goats, but also from buffalo, sheep, horses or camels —for human consumption. A dairy is typically located on a dedicated dairy farm or section of a multi-purpose farm that is concerned...
and sheep meat production NZ is by far more energy efficient
Efficient energy use
Efficient energy use, sometimes simply called energy efficiency, is the goal of efforts to reduce the amount of energy required to provide products and services. For example, insulating a home allows a building to use less heating and cooling energy to achieve and maintain a comfortable temperature...
, even including the transport cost, than the UK, twice as efficient in the case of dairy, and four times as efficient in case of sheep meat
Lamb (food)
Lamb, mutton, and hogget are the meat of domestic sheep. The meat of a sheep in its first year is lamb; that of a juvenile sheep older than 1 year is hogget; and the meat of an adult sheep is mutton....
. In the case of apple
Apple
The apple is the pomaceous fruit of the apple tree, species Malus domestica in the rose family . It is one of the most widely cultivated tree fruits, and the most widely known of the many members of genus Malus that are used by humans. Apple grow on small, deciduous trees that blossom in the spring...
s, NZ is more energy-efficient even though the energy embodied in capital items and other inputs data was not available for the UK."
Other researchers have contested the claims from New Zealand. Professor Gareth Edwards-Jones has said that the arguments “in favour of New Zealand apples shipped to the UK is probably true only or about two months a year, during July and August, when the carbon footprint for locally grown fruit doubles because it comes out of cool stores.”
Studies of the total carbon footprint
Carbon footprint
A carbon footprint has historically been defined as "the total set of greenhouse gas emissions caused by an organization, event, product or person.". However, calculating a carbon footprint which conforms to this definition is often impracticable due to the large amount of data required, which is...
of food production in the U.S. have shown transportation to be of minor importance, compared to the carbon emissions resulting from pesticide and fertilizer production, and the fuel required by farm and food processing equipment.
Intensive livestock production as a source of greenhouse gases
Farm animals account for between 20% and 30% of global greenhouse gasGreenhouse gas
A greenhouse gas is a gas in an atmosphere that absorbs and emits radiation within the thermal infrared range. This process is the fundamental cause of the greenhouse effect. The primary greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere are water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone...
emissions. That figure includes the clearing of land to feed and graze the animals. Clearing land of trees, and cultivation, are the main drivers of farming emissions. Deforestation
Deforestation
Deforestation is the removal of a forest or stand of trees where the land is thereafter converted to a nonforest use. Examples of deforestation include conversion of forestland to farms, ranches, or urban use....
eliminates carbon sinks, accelerating the process of climate change
Climate change
Climate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average...
. Cultivation, including the use of synthetic fertilisers, releases greenhouse gases such as nitrous oxide. Nitrogen fertiliser is especially demanding of fossil fuels, as producing a tonne of it takes 1.5 tonnes of oil.
Meanwhile, it’s increasingly recognised that meat
Meat
Meat is animal flesh that is used as food. Most often, this means the skeletal muscle and associated fat and other tissues, but it may also describe other edible tissues such as organs and offal...
and dairy
Dairy
A dairy is a business enterprise established for the harvesting of animal milk—mostly from cows or goats, but also from buffalo, sheep, horses or camels —for human consumption. A dairy is typically located on a dedicated dairy farm or section of a multi-purpose farm that is concerned...
are the largest sources of food-related emissions. The UK’s consumption of meat and dairy products (including imports) accounts for about 8% of national greenhouse gas
Greenhouse gas
A greenhouse gas is a gas in an atmosphere that absorbs and emits radiation within the thermal infrared range. This process is the fundamental cause of the greenhouse effect. The primary greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere are water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone...
emissions related to consumption.
According to a study by engineers Christopher Weber and H. Scott Matthews of Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States....
, of all the greenhouse gases emitted by the food industry, only 4% comes from transporting the food from producers to retailers. The study also concluded that adopting a vegetarian diet, even if the vegetarian food is transported over very long distances, does far more to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, than does eating a locally grown diet.
“Local” food miles
A commonly ignored element is the local loop. The act of driving further to a more "right-on" food source increases the total carbon footprint. A shopper may buy say 5 kg of meat and use about a gallon to get it. That piece of meat could have gone over 60000 miles (96,560.4 km) by road (40tonner at 8mpg) to require the same carbon in transportation. However, this is an extreme scenario, in which a consumer burns a gallon of gasoline (30 or 40 miles (64.4 km) of travel) to buy a single food item, 5 kg of meat, and neglects to consider the fact that the consumer must travel to the point of sale for long-haul meat, as well. While extreme consumer behaviour can certainly cancel any environmental benefit arising from any food-buying choice, it is a different question whether this happens in practice.Lifecycle analysis, rather than food miles
Lifecycle analysisLife cycle assessment
A life-cycle assessment is a technique to assess environmental impacts associated with all the stages of a product's life from-cradle-to-grave A life-cycle assessment (LCA, also known as life-cycle analysis, ecobalance, and cradle-to-grave analysis) is a technique to assess environmental impacts...
, a technique that meshes together a wide range of different environmental criteria including emissions and waste, is a more holistic way of assessing the real environmental impact of the food we eat. The technique accounts for energy input and output involved in the production, processing, packaging and transport of food. It also factors in resource depletion
Resource depletion
Resource depletion is an economic term referring to the exhaustion of raw materials within a region. Resources are commonly divided between renewable resources and non-renewable resources...
, air pollution and water pollution
Water pollution
Water pollution is the contamination of water bodies . Water pollution occurs when pollutants are discharged directly or indirectly into water bodies without adequate treatment to remove harmful compounds....
and waste generation/municipal solid waste.
A number of organisations are developing ways of calculating the carbon cost or lifecycle impact of food and agriculture. Some are more robust than others but, at the moment, there is no easy way to tell which ones are thorough, independent and reliable, and which ones are just marketing hype.
Other aspects of sustainability, such as local jobs, and health
Even a full lifecycle analysis accounts only for the environmental effects of food production and consumption. Important though that is, it is only one of the widely agreed three pillars of sustainable development, namely environmental, social and economic. Many people want to buy local food because it can support local jobs. The New Economics Foundation publication “Plugging the Leaks” now has an associated website where people can calculate the benefit to their local economy of investing in a whole range of local jobs and services, not just food.Other reasons for wanting to buy local food
Improved animal welfare - locally produced meat and dairy products are not always higher welfare, but it is at least easier to check if the farm is local. In addition, buying local can help to avoid animals being transported live, over long and stressful distances. Also fresher, more nutritious food - it is a good rule of thumb that fresh food is tastier and often more nutritious, as some types of vitamins in some foods do not store well. However, some vitamins and minerals are very robust in storage, and some types of preservation e.g. freezing and canning can preserve some vitamins. Which is best depends on the type of food, which nutrients you are interested in, and how the food has been transported, processed and cooked.External links
- Food Climate Research Network
- http://www.sustainweb.org Sustain: the alliance for better food and farming]
- Fairtrade Foundation
- Fairtrade Labelling Organisations (international)
- IIED
- Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics
- Oxfam UK
- Oxfam International
- 99MILES.ORG - Promotion Program for Local Products
- Food miles at DEFRA
- The Validity of Food Miles as an Indicator of Sustainable Development
- Food miles at Wordspy
- Farmers Weekly Food Miles Campaign - Local Food is Miles Better at Farmers Weekly interactive
- News/Views from Kenya
- Falls Brook Centre Food Miles Project
- Falls Brook Centre Food Miles Calculator - Canada
- Food miles - A corrida do alimento (portuguese)
- LoveBuyingLocal.com: Find food from local producers