How Food and Environment Are Connected?
What we eat, and how that food is produced, affects our health but also the environment. Food needs to be grown and processed, transported, distributed, prepared, consumed, and sometimes disposed of. Each of these steps creates greenhouse gases that trap the sun’s heat and contribute to climate change. Read the text about food and environment and for questions 1 to 6, choose the correct answer.
Level B1/B2
Food Miles: Is Buying Local Food Always Better?
Food miles is the distance food is transported from the time of its making until it reaches the consumer. Food miles are one factor used when testing the environmental impact of food, such as the carbon footprint of the food.
A carbon footprint is the total amount of greenhouse gases, mainly carbon dioxide (CO₂), released into the atmosphere because of human activities. It is usually measured in units of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO₂e) to express the impact of different gases in a common scale. The average carbon footprint for a person in the United States is 16 tons, one of the highest rates in the world. Globally, the average carbon footprint is closer to 4 tons.
Common sources of carbon footprint:
- Driving cars, flying planes, or using other vehicles powered by fossil fuels.
- Electricity and heating produced by burning coal, oil, or natural gas.
- Growing, processing, and transporting food, especially meat and dairy, which require more resources.
- Producing goods, such as clothes, electronics, and other products, often involves energy-intensive processes.
- Decomposing waste in landfills produces gases like methane, which contribute to the footprint.
Why does it matter?
The carbon footprint contributes to climate change, causing global warming, rising sea levels, and extreme weather events. Reducing your carbon footprint can help protect the planet for future generations.Examples of reducing your carbon footprint include using renewable energy, driving less, eating more plant-based foods, and recycling.
Recently, campaigners have encouraged us to buy local food. This reduces ‘food miles’, that is, the distance food travels to get from the producer to the retailer. They reason that the higher the food miles, the more carbon emissions. Buying local food, therefore, has a lower carbon footprint and is more environmentally friendly.
However, the real story is not as simple as that. If our aim is to reduce carbon emissions, we must look at the whole farming process, not just transportation. According to a 2008 study, only 11% of carbon emissions in the food production process result from transportation, and only 4% originated from the final delivery of the product from the producer to the retailer. Other processes, including fertilisation, storage, heating and irrigation, contribute much more.
In fact, imported food often has a lower carbon footprint than locally grown food. Take apples, for example. In autumn, when apples are harvested, the best option for a British resident is to buy British apples. However, the apples we buy in winter or spring have been kept refrigerated for months, and this uses up a lot of energy. In spring, therefore, it is more energy-efficient to import them from New Zealand, where they are in season. Heating also uses a lot of energy, which is why growing tomatoes in heated greenhouses in the UK is less environmentally friendly than importing them from Spain, where the crop grows well in the local climate.
We must also take into account the type of transport. Transporting food by air creates about 50 times more emissions than shipping it. However, only a small proportion of goods are flown to the consumer country, and these are usually high value, perishable items which we cannot produce locally, such as seafood and out-of-season berries. Even then, these foods may not have a higher carbon footprint than locally grown food. For example, beans flown in from Kenya are grown in sunny fields using manual labour and natural fertilisers, unlike in Britain, where we use oil-based fertilisers and diesel machinery. Therefore, the total carbon footprint is still lower.
It’s also worth remembering that a product’s journey does not end at the supermarket. The distance consumers travel to buy their food, and the kind of transport they use will also add to its carbon footprint. So driving a long way to shop for food will negate any environmental benefits of buying locally grown produce. Furthermore, choosing local over imported food can also badly affect people in developing countries. Many of them work in agriculture because they have no other choice. If they are unable to sell produce overseas, they will have less income to buy food, clothes, medicine and to educate their children.
Recently, some supermarkets have been trying to raise awareness of food miles by labelling foods with stickers that show it has been imported by air. But ultimately, the message this gives is too simple. Lots of different factors contribute to a food’s carbon footprint besides the distance it has travelled. And even if we only buy local food which is currently in season, there are ethical implications. What’s more, our diets would be more limited.
1. What is the main idea of the text?
a. The importance of buying locally produced food.
b. The reasons why food miles campaigns are too simple.
c. The advantages of importing food from overseas.
d. The problems caused by transporting food.
2. According to a study in the USA, 11% is …
a. the percentage of food that is produced and sold locally.
b. the percentage of energy in food production used to transport food from producer to retailer.
c. the percentage of energy in food production used for any kind of transport.
d. the percentage of food which is imported from overseas.
3. Seafood is given as an example of food which…
a. is transported by air unnecessarily.
b. is expensive and goes bad quickly.
c. people in poor countries rely on for income.
d. is usually transported by ship.
4. According to the text, how are Spanish tomatoes and Kenyan beans similar?
a. They are both transported by air.
b. They are both grown using natural fertilizer.
c. They are both grown outdoors.
d. They both have high carbon footprints.
5. Which of these does the writer NOT support?
a. Supporting farmers in poor countries.
b. Importing apples to Britain from New Zealand in spring.
c. Buying beans imported by air from Kenya.
d. Making a long journey to buy food produced locally.
6. The writer thinks that labelling food which has been transported by air…
a. will raise environmental awareness.
b. helps people to shop more ethically.
c. does not tell a full, accurate story.
d. gives false information about the product.
Buying local food is often suggested to reduce “food miles,” or the distance food travels to reach stores. The idea is that fewer food miles mean lower carbon emissions, making local food better for the environment. However, the issue is more complicated.
Transportation causes only a small part of carbon emissions in food production—just 11%. Most emissions come from other processes like fertilizing, heating, storing, and watering crops. Sometimes, imported food has a smaller carbon footprint than local food. For example, British apples in autumn are eco-friendly, but by winter, they need energy-hungry refrigeration. In spring, it’s better to import fresh apples from New Zealand. Similarly, tomatoes grown in heated greenhouses in the UK use more energy than tomatoes grown naturally in Spain.
Transport type also matters. Flying food causes 50 times more emissions than shipping. But only a small amount of food is flown, like seafood and berries. Even these foods can be greener if they’re grown naturally, as in Kenya, where manual labor and natural fertilizers are used instead of machines and chemicals.
The distance people drive to buy food adds to its carbon footprint too. Long drives cancel out the benefits of buying local food. Choosing local food can also harm farmers in poorer countries. They depend on selling their produce abroad to afford food, medicine, and education.
Some stores now use labels to show if food was flown in, but this doesn’t tell the full story. Many factors affect a food’s carbon footprint, not just distance. While eating local, seasonal food can help, it also limits variety and has ethical effects on global trade.
Buying local food is thought to reduce “food miles” and carbon emissions, but the issue is more complex. Transportation causes only a small part of emissions in food production – most come from processes like fertilizing, heating, and storage. Sometimes, imported food has a lower carbon footprint than local food, especially when local food requires energy-intensive storage or heating.
The transport method matters too – flying food produces far more emissions than shipping, but only a small amount of food is flown. Even then, imported food grown naturally can be more sustainable than local food grown with machines and chemicals.
Driving long distances to buy food increases its carbon footprint, often canceling the benefits of local produce. Choosing local food can also harm farmers in developing countries who depend on exports to support their families. Labels showing food miles help raise awareness, but the full picture includes many factors, not just distance.