Eating Local Food Isn’t Enough to Combat Climate Change
Local food, so called “slow food” is really in vogue currently. It seems like local food has nothing wrong with it and is one of many excellent methods for us to begin to reduce our dependence on carbon emissions, mitigate climate change, and also take an active role in our local economy by supporting farmers and other agricultural workers. However the reality is not so simple.
Local food is a good thing in the way that it reduce the distance that food has to travel. The travel portion of the food delivery system can be the part of the process that has the greatest impact in terms of climate emissions. So it seems true that local food is therefore a perfect solution. However, linking those two things like that just doesn’t work.
If the food has been flown in from another country then it is of course going to be riding high on the emission chart—even a financial company that doesn’t specialize in carbon trading like Galvan FSA, could tell you that. But, that is sometimes a better option than growing the food nearby if by growing it nearby it needs either a lot more water, or if it needs to be grown in a greenhouse with big lights and heater. All of these things will increase the carbon emissions associated with the production of the local food. It could increase the emissions so much that it’s better to fly the food from a distant warmer country. Of course, it’s better to eat in season, but if you want pineapples at Christmas, flying them in is usually best.
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