Food miles is the distance food is transported from the time of its making until it reaches the consumer. Food miles are one factor used when testing the environmental impact of food, such as the carbon footprint of the food.
The concept of food miles originated in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. It was conceived by Professor Tim Langhttps://www.citystgeorges.ac.uk/prospective-students/subjects/food-policy. He explains its history in this article Tim Lang (2006). 'locale / global (food miles)', Slow Food (Bra, Cuneo Italy), 19, May 2006, pp. 94–97 at the Sustainable Agriculture Food and Environment (SAFE) AllianceThe SAFE Alliance merged with the National Food Alliance in 2000 to become Sustain: the alliance for better food and farming http://www.sustainweb.org/. Professor Tim Lang chaired Sustain from 1999 to 2005. 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.Paxton, A (1994). "The Food Miles Report: The Dangers of Long-Distance Food Transport". SAFE Alliance, London, UK. https://www.sustainweb.org/publications/the_food_miles_report/Iles, A. (2005). "Learning in sustainable agriculture: Food miles and missing objects". Environmental Values, 14, 163–83
Some scholars believe that an increase in the distance 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. These make a small part of the greenhouse gas emissions created by food; 83% of overall emissions of CO2 are in production phases.
Several 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.Garnett 2011, Food Policy
Global food miles emissions are 3.5–7.5 times higher than previously estimated, with transport accounting for about 19% of total emissions from the food system, albeit shifting towards plant-based diets remains substantially more important.
The concept of "food miles" has been criticised, and food miles are not always correlated with the actual environmental impact of food production. In comparison, the percentage of total energy used in home food preparation is 26% and in food processing is 29%, far greater than transportation.John Hendrickson, "Energy use in the U.S. Food System: A summary of existing research and analysis." Sustainable Farming (Ste. Anne de Bellevue, Quebec), vol. 7, no. 4. Fall 1997.
Overview The concept of food miles is part of the broader issue of sustainability 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."Tim Lang (2006). 'locale / global (food miles)', Slow Food (Bra, Cuneo Italy), 19, May 2006, p.94-97 The increased distance traveled by food in developed countries was caused by the globalization of food trade, which increased by four times since 1961.Erik Millstone and Tim Lang, The Atlas of Food, Earthscan, London, 1963, p. 60. 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."Smith, A. et al. (2005) The Validity of Food Miles as an Indicator of Sustainable Development: Final report. DEFRA, London. See https://statistics.defra.gov.uk/esg/reports/foodmiles/default.asp 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. More emissions are created by the drive to the supermarket to buy air freighted food than was created by the air freighting in the first place. Also, the positive environmental effects of organic farming may be compromised by increased transportation, unless it is produced by local farms. The Carbon Trust notes that to understand the carbon emissions from food production, all the carbon-emitting processes that occur as a result of getting food from the field to our plates need to be considered, including production, origin, seasonality and home care."Food, the carbon story", The Carbon Trust, 15 March 2012. Retrieved on 20 January 2015.
Food miles in business 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.
Calculating food miles
With processed foods that are made of many different ingredients, it is very complicated, though not impossible, to calculate the 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 Tim 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.
Wal-Mart publicized a press releasing that stated food travelled before it reaches customers. The statistics aroused public concern about food miles. According to Jane Black, a food writer who covers food politics, the number was derived from a small database. The 22 terminal markets from which the data was collected handled 30% of the United States produce.
Some iOS and Android apps allow consumers to get information about food products, including nutritional information, product origin, and the distance the product travelled from its production location to the consumer. Such apps include OpenLabel, Glow, and Open Food Facts. These apps may rely on barcode scanning. Also, smartphones can scan a product's QR code, after which the browser opens up showing the production location of the product (i.e. Farm to Fork project, ...).
Criticism
Fair trade
According to Oxfam researchers, there are many other aspects of the agricultural processing and the food supply chain that also contribute to greenhouse gas emissions which are not taken into account by simple "food miles" measurements.Chi, 2009, p. 9. 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.MacGregor, J.; Vorley, B (2006) Fair Miles? Weighing environmental and social impacts of fresh produce exports from Sub-Saharan Africa to the UK. Fresh Insights no.9. International Institute for Environment and Development/ Natural Resources Institute, London, UK, 18 pp. http://www.dfid.gov.uk/r4d/SearchResearchDatabase.asp?OutPutId=173492
However, exports from poor countries do not always benefit poor people. Unless the product has a Fairtrade certification label, or a label from another robust and independent scheme, food exports might make a bad situation worse. Only a very small percentage of what importers pay will end up in the hands of plantation workers.C. Dolan, J. Humphrey, and C. Harris-Pascal, "Value Chains and Upgrading: The Impact of U.K. Retailers on the Fresh Fruit and Vegetables Industry in Africa," Institute of Development Studies Working Paper 96, University of Sussex, 1988. 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.Action Aid is one of many organisations drawing attention to this problem and campaigning to improve this situation - http://www.actionaid.org.uk
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 energy is used in its production. A recent Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) case study indicated that tomatoes grown in Spain and transported to the United Kingdom may have a lower carbon footprint in terms of energy than heated greenhouses 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 with ISO 14040, entire supply chains providing German consumers with food were investigated, comparing local food with food of European and global provenance. Large-scale agriculture reduces unit costs associated with food production and transportation, leading to increased efficiency and decreased energy use per kilogram of food by economies of scale. Research from the Justus Liebig University Giessen show that small food production operations may cause even more environmental impact than bigger operations in terms of energy use per kilogram, even though food miles are lower. Case studies of lamb, beef, wine, apples, fruit juices and pork show that the concept of food miles is too simple to account for all factors of food production. Schlich E, Fleissner U: The Ecology of Scale. Assessment of Regional Energy Turnover and Comparison with Global Food. Int J LCA 10 (3) 219-223:2005.Schlich E: Energy Economics and the Ecology of Scale in the Food Business. In: Caldwell PG and Taylor EV (editors): New Research on Energy Economics. Nova Science Publishers Hauppauge NY:2008.