This page was written by Year 13 students. Well done to them for collaborating so well - and see if you can spot the Y13isms in the text.... ;)
Food mile = a mile over which a food item is transported during the journey from producer to consumer, as a unit of measurement of the fuel used to transport it
EVALUATION OF USING FOOD MILES AS A MEASURE OF ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF FOOD:
Values of using food miles as a measure of environmental impact of food
Using this allows you to help the local farmers and growers as you can track exactly where the local organic food is being produced. In addition, it has a positive impact upon the environment as well as supporting organic food.
Food miles also gives you a better understanding of, not only the travel distance of the food produce itself, but the in-depth production (meaning distance travelled for packaging or boxing), and storage.
Environmental impacts -- the additional travel time and production FOR the packaging of food can contribute to the increase of food miles as well as pollution and waste.
This can measure the environmental change and impact that is caused by a specific food, depending on the mileage covered of the produce itself. If the country decides to produce a specific product (whether it is a drink or food), and the food mileage is low, we can assume that the country itself has factories that produces said food, which results in an environmental impact (pollution caused from producing these foods -- production of canned drinks; power consumption to manufacture cans and the drink itself).
Transport may be considered the most predominant cause of environmental impacts for certain foods, making food miles a potentially reliable method of measurement.
Limitations of using food miles as a measure of environmental impact of food
Complex link between distance travelled and the level of transport emissions, therefore causing inaccuracy
Heavily processed, packaged or chemically preserved.
Food miles only account for the travel of food to move from one place to another. Despite informing about whether or not the food produced is nearby (economic sustainability), it neglects the other environmental impacts of food production.
These include:
Air Pollution and greenhouse gas from farming cost more than 1.1 billion annually. About 10% of the UKs greenhouse gases come from the methane from livestock digestion and manure and nitrous oxide from fertilised land.
Birds ded aka catastrophic decline because of food miles aka destroying their homes aka loss of habitat aka loss of biodiversity
This lit http://www.agrifood.info/Agrifood/connections/2008/Food_Miles_Rama_Lawrence.pdf
From course companion:
Different ingredients often have to travel between different places before the final product is made. Therefore, resulting in a greater environmental impact than what is recorded.
Depends on how food is transported - for example, if the different ingredients are frozen, then more energy is used. More energy is also used for certain crops where the heating of greenhouses are needed. So not a good representation of overall environmental impact.
Transportation cost is only is only one aspect of environmental impact resulting from food production. Other factors that are disregarded may include destruction of biodiversity, eutrophication, and decrease in quality of water.
The actual distance needed to travel between the supplier and to the hands of the consumer may not be accurately accounted for.
In order for food to travel long distances, it often has to go through the stages of being heavily processed, packaged, and chemically preserved, all of which may require the use of energy and may play a part in the environmental impact of food production (e.g., plastic from packaging may contribute to waste production, and processing may contribute to air pollution), but potentially disregarded in the overall food milage calculated.
EVALUATION OF USING FOOD MILES AS A MEASURE OF ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF FOOD:
Values of using food miles as a measure of environmental impact of food
Using this allows you to help the local farmers and growers as you can track exactly where the local organic food is being produced. In addition, it has a positive impact upon the environment as well as supporting organic food.
- Using food miles to track down the local food around your living area, you can not only reduce the "food mileage" effect (This term refers to the distance food is transported from the time of its production until it reaches the consumer.), but also reduce the environmental effects of our food - as food miles is a factor that consumes the environmental impact within the food being grown as well as the impact on global warming
Food miles also gives you a better understanding of, not only the travel distance of the food produce itself, but the in-depth production (meaning distance travelled for packaging or boxing), and storage.
Environmental impacts -- the additional travel time and production FOR the packaging of food can contribute to the increase of food miles as well as pollution and waste.
This can measure the environmental change and impact that is caused by a specific food, depending on the mileage covered of the produce itself. If the country decides to produce a specific product (whether it is a drink or food), and the food mileage is low, we can assume that the country itself has factories that produces said food, which results in an environmental impact (pollution caused from producing these foods -- production of canned drinks; power consumption to manufacture cans and the drink itself).
Transport may be considered the most predominant cause of environmental impacts for certain foods, making food miles a potentially reliable method of measurement.
Limitations of using food miles as a measure of environmental impact of food
Complex link between distance travelled and the level of transport emissions, therefore causing inaccuracy
Heavily processed, packaged or chemically preserved.
Food miles only account for the travel of food to move from one place to another. Despite informing about whether or not the food produced is nearby (economic sustainability), it neglects the other environmental impacts of food production.
These include:
- Deforestation is occurring at an increasing rate to grow food in favorable lands
- Examples:
- Cargill, a US agribusiness, built a port in the Amazon region for their food production. The deforestation rate in the forest doubled to 28,000 hectares because of companies using the land to produce food.
- McDonald’s has also been involved in illegally driving the destruction of the Amazon rainforest for their food production.
- Although the countries near the Amazon forest will have lower food miles, the environmental impact of food caused by deforestation would not lessen.
- Pollution increases in areas where the food is produced
- Example:
- About 10% of UK’s greenhouse gas emissions come from the methane from livestock digestion and manure and nitrous oxide from fertilized land
- The food production leaves environmental impacts that develop over time, and affect the area it is produced in, regardless of how close it is to the area it is consumed.
- Animals are slaughtered, lessening their population
- Example:
- 750 million broiler chickens are slaughtered in Britain each year
- Even if the chickens are being consumed in Britain or nearby countries, the environmental impact would not diminish.
Air Pollution and greenhouse gas from farming cost more than 1.1 billion annually. About 10% of the UKs greenhouse gases come from the methane from livestock digestion and manure and nitrous oxide from fertilised land.
Birds ded aka catastrophic decline because of food miles aka destroying their homes aka loss of habitat aka loss of biodiversity
This lit http://www.agrifood.info/Agrifood/connections/2008/Food_Miles_Rama_Lawrence.pdf
From course companion:
Different ingredients often have to travel between different places before the final product is made. Therefore, resulting in a greater environmental impact than what is recorded.
Depends on how food is transported - for example, if the different ingredients are frozen, then more energy is used. More energy is also used for certain crops where the heating of greenhouses are needed. So not a good representation of overall environmental impact.
Transportation cost is only is only one aspect of environmental impact resulting from food production. Other factors that are disregarded may include destruction of biodiversity, eutrophication, and decrease in quality of water.
The actual distance needed to travel between the supplier and to the hands of the consumer may not be accurately accounted for.
In order for food to travel long distances, it often has to go through the stages of being heavily processed, packaged, and chemically preserved, all of which may require the use of energy and may play a part in the environmental impact of food production (e.g., plastic from packaging may contribute to waste production, and processing may contribute to air pollution), but potentially disregarded in the overall food milage calculated.
