food miles
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food miles Posted on Jun 15 2007 at 4:37pm by GLOBAL WARMING SOLUTIONS
PROTecTING The ecONOMy ANd The eNvIRONMeNT
Fight Global Warming with Fresh Food
Fighting global warming might seem like a daunting task, but you
can take an important step right here, today!
You can reduce global warming pollution simply by choosing fresh,
local, sustainable and minimally processed foods, such as those at
this market.
Supplying Americans with food accounts for more than 15 percent
of our country’s total energy use, and agriculture accounts for 20
percent of human-caused global warming pollution worldwide.
PROBLeM: GROWING fOOd cReATeS GLOBAL
WARMING POLLUTION
Fossil fuels are burned and global warming pollution is created
in almost every step of conventional food production,
from the operation of planting, harvesting and irrigation
equipment to the production, transportation, and application
of pesticides and fertilizers.
SOLUTION: eAT SUSTAINABLe ANd ORGANIc fOOd
Sustainable and organic food is often grown on smaller farms
by farmers who use less and smaller equipment—which burns
less fossil fuels. Sustainable and organic food also requires
much less, if any, pesticide and fertilizer, and in turn, less
energy.
Minimizing meat consumption can also help, as meat requires
much more energy to produce than fruits and vegetables.
Make sure that the meat you do eat is sustainably and
humanely raised—it takes about three times more energy to
raise animals in feed lots or factory pens than to raise freerange
and grass-fed meat.
PROBLeM: fOOd PROceSSING, PAckAGING, ANd
MARkeTING cReATeS GLOBAL WARMING POLLUTION
Growing crops takes energy, but turning those crops into a
box of crackers or a frozen dinner entre can take just as
much energy, if not more. For example, producing a twopound
box of breakfast cereal uses the same amount of
energy as burning a half-gallon of gasoline. Marketing food
also uses energy.
Solution: Eat minimally procESSEd, packagEd,
and markEtEd food
Generally speaking, the less processing and packaging you
see, the less energy went into production and marketing, and
the less global warming pollution was created.408 St. peter Street, Suite 220 / St. paul, mn 55102
651 225 0878 phone / 651 225 0870 fax
www.fresh-energy.org
info@fresh-energy.org
The energy system needs an overhaul, and the clock is ticking.
Fresh Energy’s job is to catalyze state and regional policy and
regulation that will stimulate the technological advancements
necessary for an energy system that sustains our economy, our
people and our planet.
BeyONd The TABLe
Choosing to eat fresh, local, sustainable and minimallyprocessed
foods is an important step toward reducing global
warming pollution. If you want to do even more, here are a
few simple ideas:
• Spread the Word – Help share the news about global
warming solutions. Contact Fresh Energy at 651-225-0878
or info@fresh-energy.org to schedule a speaker at your
congregation, civic organization, or workplace.
• Make Your Voice Heard – Urge your elected officials to
create a federal, market-based program that would limit
and reduce global warming emissions...and set enforceable
deadlines for doing so.
• Lower Your Personal Impact – Each one of us needs
to act to slow global warming. Use a carbon pollution
calculator like the one available at www.carbonneutral.com
to determine the effect you’re having on the Earth’s climate.
Set a “carbon budget” and adjust your behavior to lower
your contribution.
PROBLeM: TRANSPORTING fOOd fROM The fARM TO
yOUR PLATe cReATeS GLOBAL WARMING POLLUTION
Whether transported by boat, rail, truck, or plane, it takes
fossil fuels to get food from the farm to your plate. On
average, the food on the shelf at your grocery store traveled
over 1,500 miles to get there, and the more miles food
travels, the more global warming pollution is created.
The distances traveled by food are increasing, and
an ever-larger portion of our food is coming from
far away. For example, in 1870, Iowa produced 100
percent of the apples consumed in the state, but only
50 percent by 1925 and a mere 15 percent in 1999.
SOLUTION: eAT LOcALLy PROdUced, IN-SeASON fOOd
Eating locally produced food produces less global warming
pollution because the distance from the farm to you is shorter,
and less fossil fuel is burned to transport it. A recent study
showed that if Iowans purchased a mere ten percent of the
common produce items they eat in a year from local sources
instead of conventional ones, global warming pollution
emissions would be reduced by about seven million pounds.
Eating locally also means eating in season. For example,
Minnesota-grown strawberries are available in the spring,
and they will have traveled a fraction of the distance of
those flown in from South America in the dead of winter.
Want to know more?
“The SUV in the Pantry,” by Thomas Starrs
http://www.sustainablebusiness.com/features/feature_template.cfm?ID=1275
“Food, Fuel and Freeways: An Iowa perspective on how far food
travels, fuel usage, and greenhouse gas emissions,” by Rich Pirog,
Timothy VanPelt, Kamyar Enshayan, and Ellen Cook
http://www.leopold.iastate.edu/pubs/staff/ppp/
“Fighting Global Warming at the Farmer’s Market,” by Stephen
Bentley
http://www.foodshare.net/resource/files/ACF230.pdf
Find more places to buy local food at Foodroutes.org
http://www.foodroutes.org
What is a food mile?
Food miles are the distance food travels to get from the farm
to where you purchase it. Distance alone, however, is not the
only energy consideration. For example, it takes much more
energy to transport food by plane than boat. Also, the weight
of the food is a factor—it takes more energy to transport
a heavy pineapple than a lighter bag of mixed greens.
