Global Food Transportation Miles Accounts For 19% of Total Food Systems Emissions.

Transporting greens, vegetables, and fruits in refrigerated vehicles notably contributes to substantial carbon dioxide emissions.

As the demand for a variety of food products increases, transportation has become a crucial component in global food supply chains. This research quantifies the carbon footprint of ‘food miles’ using a worldwide multi-region accounting structure.

‘Food miles’ refer to the distance that food items travel from where they are produced to where they are consumed, serving as an indicator of environmental impact (i.e., energy consumption or emissions). Food miles are quantified as tonne-kilometres (tkm), which is the transport of 1 tonne of food over 1km – the distance covered multiplied by the weight of the food item being transported.

Assessments of the carbon footprint of food miles are scarce, with only a handful of specific food items having undergone this type of analysis – due to the extensive data needed to model all types of food. The carbon footprint of global food trade, accounting for the entire food supply chain, is missing. However, without this information, it’s impossible to evaluate the relative significance of food miles. This research offers a thorough estimate of the carbon footprint of food miles, using a global framework – incorporating countries of origin, destination countries, transport distances, and food commodity weights.

The scientists computed ‘food miles’ emissions using a worldwide multi-region model that includes transport distance, food weight, type of transport with the corresponding emission factor (the rate at which that specific vehicle emits CO2 into the atmosphere). They also calculated the total emissions from the food system, which encompass emissions from food miles, food production, and land-use changes.

When the entire food supply chain was taken into account in this analysis, the researchers discovered that global food miles amount to approximately 3.0 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (GtCO2e) – a higher figure than previously estimated. This suggests that transport contributes to 19% of total food system emissions. The transport of fruits and vegetables accounts for 36% of food miles emissions – roughly double the amount of greenhouse gases (GHG) released during their production. Food miles accounted for only 18% of the total freight miles, but the researchers found that the emissions from these constituted 27% of total freight emissions, primarily from international trade (18%).

The researchers also projected the global food-system emissions to be 15.8 GtCO2e, representing 30% of the world’s GHG emissions. With global food expenditure around US$5 trillion (€4.85 trillion) in 2017 and the global population increasing annually, it is beneficial to consider the effects of food miles on climate change. The researchers suggest that this should be paired with a greater emphasis on locally produced food items and argue that enhanced food security through improved food-systems management also necessitates the incorporation of environmental protection goals.

Footnotes: This includes grains and oils for both human and animal consumption. Source: Li, M., Jia, N., Lenzen, M., Malik, A., Wei, L., Jin, Y., and Raubenheimer, D. (2022) Nearly 20% of total food-systems emissions are accounted for by global food-miles. Nature Food, 3(6): 445–453.”