What we eat may impact greenhouse gas emissions more than eating locally

by Stefani Pollack, Posted May 13th 2008 @ 2:00PM

Greenhouse Gases from Food I, along with most of my foodie friends, have been trying to eat more local foods recently. My husband and I bought a partial share of a community supported agriculture program and we also shop at farmer's markets when we can.

I eat locally when I can in part to reduce greenhouse gases. The idea is to reduce "food miles" - the number of miles your food has to travel to get to you. Why eat beef from Colorado when we have plenty of good beef here in Missouri?

According to new research written about in Environmental Science and Technology, eating less red meat and dairy can be a more effective way to lower an average U.S. household's food-related climate footprint than buying local food.

The research shows that, "switching to a totally local diet is equivalent to driving about 1000 miles less per year" while "replacing red meat and dairy with chicken, fish, or eggs for one day per week reduces emissions equal to 760 miles per year of driving. And switching to vegetables one day per week cuts the equivalent of driving 1160 miles per year."

The article does point out that you still should think twice about the impact of food that has traveled by air since flying has a very large carbon footprint.

I strongly recommend that in addition to reading the Environmental Science, and Technology article, you also listen to the related NPR interview. One of the topics brought out in the interview is that if you do shop locally, it is good idea to ask the vendors about what they are doing to capture the bio gas and cut down on methane.

Reducing greenhouse gases is not the only reason I eat local when I can. I like supporting local farms and knowing where my food comes from. Also, often local foods taste better/fresher. However, when I'm faced with the choice of beef vs. chicken, I'll try to remember this research and act accordingly - some of the time.

[via NPR]

Filed Under: Food News
Tags: food miles, FoodMiles, greenhouse gas, GreenhouseGas, locavore