This document discusses the concept of "food miles", which refers to the distance that food travels from where it is produced to where it is consumed. It was first coined in the 1990s in the UK to highlight the environmental and social impacts of increasing distances traveled by food. The popularity of the concept grew due to concerns about climate change, food security, and the impacts of imports on local producers. The document examines methods for calculating food miles and their environmental impacts. While food miles is a simple concept, the document notes that a full lifecycle analysis is needed, as local production may not always be more energy efficient when factors like greenhouse usage are considered. The document also discusses criticisms of food miles related to impacts on developing country exports and

1. BY
SWASTIK
GOSWAMI

2. The phrase ‘food miles’ was first coined by
British academic Professor Tim Lang in
the mid-1990s (Paxton, 1994).
 Lang describes food miles as the distance that
groceries travel to reach consumers’ plates.
 Food miles (by United Kingdom’s SAFE Alliance
in 1994) is used to highlight the environmental
and social impacts caused by the increasing
distances travelled by food.

3. POPULARITY OF THE
FOOD MILES CONCEPT
 Increased trade in food because of growing demand
for out-of-season, processed (pre-packaged), and
perishable products.
 Environmental concerns, such as climate change;
 In developed countries and a growing concern among
farmers’ organizations and rise in protectionist
sentiment about the impact of increased imports on
local producers.
 Food security concerns caused by rising food prices.

4. Study Methodology
Calculating WASD:
The WASD is the average distance that a food travels from
where it is produced to where it is consumed.
Weighted Average Source Distance (WASD) (km)
= Σ(v * d)/Σv
where:
Σ = sum of
v = value ($) of imports from each location of production
origin
d = distance (km) from each location of production origin to
the point of consumption

5. Study Methodology:
Calculating WAER:
The WAER is the average amount of GHG emissions (in kg)
created by each kg of a food item in its travel from point of
production to consumption. The formula was created by
Lifecycles (2004).
Weighted Average Emissions Ratio (WAER) = Σ (v * d * e)/Σ v
where:
v = value ($) of imports from each location of production
origin
d = distance (km) from each location of production origin to
the point of consumption
e = greenhouse gas (GHG) emission level (g/T-km) for mode
of transport (see section 3.5)

6. WHAT DO FOOD MILES REFLECTS ON?
THE GENERAL IDEA:
 How far your food travels has serious consequences for
your health and the climate
 Importing Pollution:
The modes of transport by which the distances that
food travel also have a large effect on how much
pollution is generated.

7. ADVERSE EFFECTS:
 In 2005, the import of fruits, nuts, and vegetables into
California by airplane released more than 70,000 tons
of CO2, which is equivalent to more than 12,000 cars
on the road.
 Approximately 950 cases of asthma, 16,870 missed
schools days, 43 hospital admissions, and 37
premature deaths could be attributed to the worsened
air quality from food imports, according to freight
transport–related projections by the California Air
Resources Board.

8. MASS AWARENESS AND APPROACH
A SURVEY CONDUCTED-
 A UK communications agency found that around 56
per cent of UK consumers are aware of the phrase ‘food
miles’ (Fishburn Hedges, 2007).
 A survey by a UK online bank indicated that 40 per
cent of UK consumers are prepared to pay 10 percent
more for environmentally-friendly goods (those that
are organic, recycled or energy efficient).
 Around 71 per cent of people reported that they aimed
to reduce their personal carbon footprint by buying
more UK-grown fruit and vegetables (Anon., 2008).

9.  As a result, sales of locally produced food at Waitrose
Supermarket rose by 58 per cent in 2007-08 (Waitrose,
2008), and 40 per cent at Tesco (Hawkes, 2008).

10. Measures proposed:
 Support your local farmers’ market.
 Choose local produce when it’s in season at your usual
shopping places.
 Avoid buying produce that has been flown in from
abroad.
 Encourage businesses and government bodies to adopt
procurement policies favoring locally grown, organic,
and sustainably harvested foods that are minimally
processed.

11. Whether or not the term food miles is a
valid measure, it is being
used by overseas markets
 in their purchasing decisions
 and beginning to appear in government policies
 adopted by local food movements in several countries
and used to promote the growth of initiatives such as
farmers’ markets.

12. The Validity of Food Miles as an Indicator
of Sustainable Development:

13. There are several flaws in the arguments
that imports should be decreased on the
grounds of food miles
 Increased energy use in the local production and
storage of goods may be more than offset the energy
saved in transport (if, for example, greenhouses are
used to grow warm weather crops in cool climates). A
lifecycle analysis is required to compare these costs.

14. …. the flaws in the arguments
 The mode and scale of transport are important
determinants of the quantity of energy used.
Example- Sea transport has a relatively low
environmental impact, followed by rail, road and air
transport.
 Food miles emphasizes the use of one input (distance
in its simplest form, and energy use or carbon
emissions in the more sophisticated version), but
ignores others, such as labor, capital and chemicals
used in the production process.

16. The actual Strength of ‘Food Miles’ Concept- in
the aspect of health and quality of produce.
 Locally produced food is always fresher, which means
that it usually has more vitamins and antioxidants in a
useable form. This means that they’re better for you.
 Besides, fruit and vegetables that have been grown
locally are probably allowed to ripen naturally for
longer, rather than being picked under-ripe to reduce
spoilage in transit.
 They may also not undergo certain treatments to
increase their shelf life.

17. The question arises
then…

18. Are consumers minimizing
energy use by purchasing
products according to distance
travelled?

19. Food miles: Starving the
poor?

20. FLOWER MILES
 The concept of ‘flower miles’, is largely aimed at
African flora.
 Developing countries are often heavily reliant on
exports of primary products, and many are located far
away from their key export markets.
 A reduction in purchases of items from developing
countries due to food miles concerns could have a
significant detrimental effect on agricultural exports
from these countries.

21. GROWN UNDER THE SUN
 Kenya has responded to food miles movements with
the ‘Grown under the sun’ campaign, highlighting
that Kenyan horticulture uses relatively few energy-
intensive inputs compared to European producers.

22. THE EFFECTIVE METHODS SUGGESTED:
 Some UK retailers (Tesco’s in particular) have already
started to investigate options for ‘carbon labeling’
that would present this information of assessing GHG
emissions over a product’s life cycle.
 DEFRA, The Carbon Trust and The British Standards
Institute have collaborated to develop a Publicly
Available Specification (essentially a common,
voluntary standard) for measuring the GHG footprint
of goods and services.

23. Reference:
1. Food Miles – Comparative Energy/Emissions Performance of New
Zealand’s Agriculture Industry
Caroline Saunders Andrew Barber Greg Taylor
Research Report No. 285 July 2006
2. Food miles: How far your food travels has serious consequences for your
health and the climate
www.nrdc.org/policy
November 2007 © Natural Resources Defense Council
3. Food Miles: Environmental Implications of Food Imports to Waterloo
Region
Marc Xuereb, Public Health Planner
Region of Waterloo Public Health
November 2005
4. The Validity of Food Miles as an Indicator of Sustainable
Development
Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs- Govt.UK(DEFRA)