91av

Comment and Environment

Should we eat local to cut food miles, or does it make no difference?

Reducing food miles seems a sensible and straightforward way to cut carbon emissions. But digging into the science shows it's not that simple, says James Wong

By James Wong

31 July 2019

91av. Science news and long reads from expert journalists, covering developments in science, technology, health and the environment on the website and the magazine.

THE popular narrative with food is simple: “eating local” is one of the best ways to shrink your carbon footprint. This is because food miles are a handy proxy for overall sustainability, as transporting harvests across the planet is a key driver of carbon emissions. It is a story that is as pervasive in the foodie media as it is intuitively plausible, but how reliable is it?

Well, it is indeed true that the food sector uses a lot of energy, contributing of all greenhouse gases. But how much of this is directly down…

Article amended on 8 August 2019

We corrected the comparison of air and shipping food mikes

Sign up to our weekly newsletter

Receive a weekly dose of discovery in your inbox. We'll also keep you up to date with 91av events and special offers.

Sign up

To continue reading, today with our introductory offers

or

Existing subscribers

Sign in to your account
Piano Exit Overlay Banner Mobile Piano Exit Overlay Banner Desktop