L4 - Food Miles and Carbon Footprint

• food miles are the distance that food travels from producer to consumer. this includes transport by air, ship, train and road
• carbon footprint is the measure of the impact that human activities have on the environment in terms of the greenhouse gases they produce
• the transport in the uk adds over 19 million tonnes of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere every year which increases the uks carbon footprint
• in theory, the further a product has travelled, the higher the food miles and the higher its emissions, however carbon dioxide is also produced when food is grown or harvested for example when farm machines harvest crops
• food contributes at least 17% of the total UK carbon emissions, but only 11% of this is actually related to transport
• the emissions created by producing a food product in the UK can sometimes actually create higher emissions than those imported from overseas
• even including the transport emissions from the aircraft bringing tomatoes from spain, the carbon footprints of tomatoes is smaller because growing tomatoes in the UK requires heated greenhouses wheras spain has a warmer climate
• food transported by plane generates 100 times the emissions of food transported by boat
• bananas from ecuador which travel by boat are more carbon friendly than avocados flown from mexico although they are both similar distances from uk
• carbon footprint for food = 17%

  production of food manufacturing = 10%

  production of food agriculture = 46%

  food related at home = 13%

  transport = 11%

  retail = 6%

  packaging = 5%

  catering = 10%
• instead of importing food you could eat locally produced food, grow food at home, eat seasonal produce and limit imported food that cant be grown in the uk
• agribusiness refers to treating food production from farms like a large industrial business, making it large scale, capital-intensive, commercial activity
• you can increase the size of farms by removing hedgerows, combining family farms, increasing field sizes, using modern producing methods, increased mechanisation, using better seeds
• buying local can reduce transportation distances, create less air pollution, and protect natural habitats
• buying local can be time consuming, may not be affordable and there are a limited variety of products
• buying local causes less air pollution and less particle pollution
• buying local can protect our natural habitats