Transition to locally sourced food can reduce high transport emissions

The trend of eating locally sourced food has gained popularity as more individuals look for manageable ways to improve their diet and support local businesses. 

Eating locally might also offer some peace of mind for individuals who wish to know the direct path their food has traveled to their plate, amid a spate of recently recalled products.

However, one additional reason people might choose to eat local is to reduce their carbon footprint. 

New research published today in Nature Food documents the toll food transportation has on the environment, as just transporting food accounts for one-fifth of global food-related emissions annually. 

This total of 19 percent is up to seven times higher than prior estimates, researchers found. It is also much higher than the transportation total of other commodities; transportation only accounts for seven percent of emissions generated by industry and utilities, they said. 

In the past, research on food-associated emissions focused mainly on the contribution of animal-derived products compared with plant-based foods, while the new research highlights the importance of shifting to a plant-based diet along with eating locally when feasible, explained co-author David Raubenheimer in a statement. 

“Our study estimates global food systems, due to transport, production, and land use change, contribute about 30 percent of total human-produced greenhouse gas emissions,” author Mengyu Li added. “So, food transport – at around six percent – is a sizable proportion of overall emissions.”

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Because they require temperature-controlled transportation conditions, the emissions from fruit and vegetable transport were nearly double that of production, and together, produce accounted for more than a third of total food transport emissions. 

Investigators assessed data from 47 countries and 37 economic sectors encompassing livestock, coal and manufacturing. They also took food masses into account along with international and domestic transport distances. 

Analyses showed China, the United States, Russia and India were the top emitters, while smaller countries including Germany, France and Japan accounted for 46 percent of food transport emissions despite making up less than 15 percent of the world’s population. 

Because wealthy countries are the biggest food transport emitters per capita, eating locally should be a high priority in these regions, researchers stressed. 

Previous studies have found food transport accounts for almost half of direct emissions from road vehicles. 

If the global population shifted to eating only locally sourced food, there would be a reduction of 0.38 gigatonnes of emissions, researchers found. 

Although this massive shift is unrealistic on a global scale, authors suggest implementing the transition in varying degrees may be feasible. One potential solution is transitioning to peri-urban agriculture whereby areas on the outskirts of urban environments bordering rural regions are developed to increase agricultural productivity. 

For wealthy countries in particular, investing in cleaner energy sources for vehicles and incentivizing less emissions-intensive distribution methods for food businesses could also help address high transport emissions. 

But ultimately, “changing consumers’ attitudes and behavior towards sustainable diets can reap environmental benefits on the grandest scale,” said Raubenheimer. 

As opposed to demanding unseasonal foods year-round, which need to be transported from elsewhere, “eating local seasonal alternatives, as we have throughout most of the history of our species, will help provide a healthy planet for future generations,” Raubenheimer said. 

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