Bridges Trade BioRes • Volume 5 • Number 4 • 4th March 2005
Food Transport Hurts Environment, Report Finds
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Buying locally grown food is an effective way to reduce climate change, according to a new study by Professor Jules Pretty of Essex University and Tim Lang of London’s City University published on 2 March. The study shows that while only a small percentage of international trade in food travels by sea or plane, the road distribution, storage and packaging practices in developed countries leads to substantial environmental costs as a result of food transportation. Focusing on Britain, the report suggests that food today travels 65 percent further than it did two decades ago and that if all of our food came from within 20km of where we live we could save GB£2.1bn a year in environmental and congestion costs. It also points out that so-called “food swaps”, where large quantities of similar products such as milk or meat are exported and imported by the same quantity, does not make environmental sense. In creating and analysing the idea of “food miles”, the authors argue that the appropriate action to take is not to stop international trade entirely, but rather to enact radical reforms of transport systems in developed countries. “Food miles are more important than we thought and buying local is more important than buying green,” Professor Pretty said at the Science Media Centre in London. While converting all of Britain’s farms to organic agriculture would save GB£1.1bn a year, they said, the “environmental cost” of food transportation is some GB£2.1bn a year.
“Buy local produce and save the world: why food costs £4bn more than we think,” THE INDEPENDENT, 3 March 2005; “Think Global and Buy Local Say British Food Gurus,” REUTERS, 3 March 2005.
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