JamesBall

DylanJennings
AlainaMead
UNST124g
18November2015
WhitePaper
Therearethreemainviewpointspeoplehavetowardstheemissionsoftransportingfood.
Thefirstviewpointisthattransportingfoodplaysaveryminorroleincontributingto
greenhousegasses.Thesecondviewpointisthatthetransportoffoodoverlongdistancesis
hugelyimpactfultowardsglobalclimatechange.Finally,thethirdviewpointseesthe
relationshipbetweentransportoffoodandcarbonemissionsfromastatisticalstandpoint,andits
impactisdependantonseveralvariables.(Suchashowfar,modeoftransport,farmervs
supermarket)
InChosarticle,ourfirstviewpointisprominent,howeverthearticleisntcompletely
biasedtowardsit.Chosaysthatsmallfarmslikelycreatemoreemissionsbecauseofinefficient
useofresourcesandbecausesmallamountsofproducearetransportedshorttomedium
distances.Onesolutionshegivestothisistocreatemoreextremelocalfarms,thatdistribute
theirproducewithinwalkingdistance,eliminatingemissionsoftransportation.Chothendraws
theconversationawayfromtransportandremindsreadersofthebenefitsoflocalfoodevenwith
increasedemissions.
Choprovidessomeexampleswhylocalfoodisbeneficial,asfollows.Localfarmskeep
moneyinthecommunity,andbecauseoftheoneononeinteractionsbetweenfarmerand
consumer,localfarmsincreasesocialinteractionswithinacommunity.Smallerfarmstendto
adapttomoreenvironmentallyfriendlymethodsofgrowingcropsthanlargeindustrialized


JamesBall
DylanJennings
AlainaMead
UNST124g
18November2015
farms.Also,becauseofthevarietyinwhatisgrowninlocalfarms,nutrientcyclingstayswithin
thefarmandrunoffisntasmuchofaproblemassinglecropfarms.
NeartheendofChosarticle,shepointsoutanimportantfactbasedona2008studyby
ChristopherWeberandScottMatthews.Althoughtransportoffoodsdoescontributetothetotal
emissionsoffoodproduction,onlyabout11%oftheseemissionscomesfromtransport.This
leadsintothenextviewpoint,wheretransportationistheprimaryfocusofinterestinfoods
impactonglobalclimatechange.
Itisalsoimportanttoconsiderhowoftenweuseeachmodeoffoodtransportationand
howeachmodeaffectstheenvironment.AccordingtoWeberandMatthewsresearchitisclear
thattrucksandairplanesaretheleadingpollutersinfoodtransportation,theyarethesecondand
fourthmostusedformoffoodtransportationrespectively.Achartrepresentingtheirresearchis
shownbelow.Asanote,thexaxisislabeledCarbonDioxideemissionsperhouseholdforeach
typeoffood.


JamesBall
DylanJennings
AlainaMead
UNST124g
18November2015
Withsomeskewedstatisticstofavorlocalfood,theNRDCarguesthatdespiteother
researchlocalfoodsaremoreenvironmentallyfriendlythanindustrialprocessedfoods.The
NRDCfocusedtheirstudiesspecificallyonCalifornianproduceandwineimportsandexports.
Theyfoundthatbetween1968and1998,foodproductionandpopulationinCaliforniaincreased
about90percent,whileimportsandexportsoffoodincreasedabout185percent.TheNRDC
identifiesfourmajormodesoftransport:ship,train,semitruck,andairplane.
WhentheNRDCanalyzedemissionsofthesemodesoftransport,theyfoundthat
airplanescreatedfarmoreemissionsoverthesamedistanceassemitrucks,trains,andships
combined.Theyalsoclaimthattransportingfoodwithdieselfueledvehiclesisahealthconcern
toCalifornians.Theyattribute2,400deathsand2,800hospitalizationsin2005eitherdirectlyor
indirectlytofoodtransportation.Inthissametime,3.7milliontonsoffoodwereimportedinto
California,whichtheNRDCsayscreated250,000tonsofgreenhousegasses,6,000tonsof
smogformingnitrogenoxides,and300tonsofsootyparticulatematter.Concludingthearticle,
theNRDCstatesthatimportedfoodcreates45to500timesasmuchairpollutionaslocalor
regionaltransportofthesameproducts.Becauseofallofthesefactors,theNRDCstatesthat
localfoodismuchbetterfortheenvironment.Thisiscompletelyinlinewiththesecond
viewpoint,wherethesystemoffoodproductionisnotlookedatasawhole,butinstead
transportationisisolatedasanevilthingseparatefromproduction.
IntheUnitedStates,moststudiesdontlookatthegreenhousegasemissionsfrom
agriculturalproductionagainsttransportationofthefoods.WebbersandMathewstookalook


JamesBall
DylanJennings
AlainaMead
UNST124g
18November2015
intothestatisticsandfoundthat83%ofAmericanscarbonfootprintcomesfromagricultural.
15%ofthoseemissioncomesfrommilestraveledtodeliverfood(foodmiles).Asinternational
tradehasbecomeincreasinglycommon,foodmileshaveskyrocketed.Foodmilesalsoinclude
thetransportationofequipmentandsupplies.Asolutiontoreduce83%to68%isbyreducing
themilestraveledandbuyfromasmallscalefarm,withinwalkingdistance,orhavingyourown
farmalltogether.
Toaccomplishthereductionoffoodmiles,adietaryshiftmusttakeplace.For
Oregonians,vegetablesliketomatoes,corn,greenbeans,andasparagusareavailableyearround.
Wheneatinglocally,thefoodsthatareavailablearetheonesthatareinseason.Tohavethem
yearround,theyhavetobefrozenorcanned.Withouthavingfoodsshippedfromwarmerplaces
likeCalifornia,wheremostofourproduceisshippedfromduringthewinter,peoplewillhaveto
getusedtochangingtheirdietperseason.
Ofthearticlesthatwefound,thescholarlyarticlebyWakeland,Cholette,andVenkat
resonatesthebestwiththethirdviewpoint:thattransportationisanissueinglobalemissions,
andthereareimprovementsthatcouldbemade,howeverthereareproblemswithotherpartsof
thesystemoffoodproductionaswell.Asisacommonthemewiththeentirearticle,they
recognizethatwhattheyareanalyzingisverycomplex,andlikelyhasseveralanswers.
Wakelandetal.lookfurtherintotransportationthansimplywhichmodeoftransportis
themostenvironmentallyfriendly.Theyrealizedthattransportationisusuallynotbyonemode
oftransport,butmany.Insteadoftryingtofigureouthowbadtheeffectsofdifferentformsof


JamesBall
DylanJennings
AlainaMead
UNST124g
18November2015
transportare,Wakelandetal.lookatwhatcouldbedonetomaketransportoffoodsless
impactful.Theydiscoveredtwothingsthatareacommonissuewithtransport,regardlessofthe
mode,andgavesolutionsandexamplestoboth.
Firstly,Wakelandetal.foundthatmanytransportvehicleswerenotutilizedtotheirfull
potential.Forexample,trucksthatarepackedinefficientlywillusemoregasolineperunitof
producttransported.Thesolutionforthisproblemissimple,packtrucksandotherfoodtransport
vehiclesmoreefficiently.
Secondly,theyfoundthatmanycompaniesbroughtemptyvehiclesbacktothesupplier,
whichtheycallbackloading.Thatis,ifavehiclebringsashipmentbacktoitsoriginallocation,
itisbackloaded.ThesolutionWaylandetal.giveforthisisforseveralcompaniestoshare
vehicles,thatwaythesevehiclescanbebackloadedwithproductsfromothercompanies.The
examplegivenforthisinvolvesonecompany,thoughseveralcouldbeinvolved.Awine
companyrecentlybuiltaraillineneartheirfactorywhichallowedthemtoputtheirproduct
directlyonatrain,insteadofonatruckwhichwenttothetrainstation.Thetraintakesthewine
tothedistributor,whichcollectsemptybottlesandsendsthembacktothecompanyonthetrain.
Asidefromthesepoints,Wakelandetal.identifyseveralflawsinlogicalthinking,based
onstatistics.Logicalthinkingtellsapersonthattransportinggoodsfromfarawaycreatesmore
emissionsthangettingitlocally,andalsothattransportationisahugefactorisfoodproductions
totalemissions.Statistically,Wakelandetal.provedbothoftheseconceptstobefalse:insome
cases.


JamesBall
DylanJennings
AlainaMead
UNST124g
18November2015
AstudydoneoncertaindairyproductsfromNewZealandandtheUKshowedthateven
thoughtheUKproductswerelocallymade,theimportedNewZealandproductsoverall
produced34percentlessemissionsthantheUKproducts.Basedonthis,alongwithother
research,Wakelandetal.cametotheconclusionthatalthoughtransportisanissue,themethods
ofproductionareoftenmuchmoreimpactfultothecarbonfootprintoffoodproductionthan
transportation.
Wakelandetal.analyzedtransportationemissionsfortheUSasawhole,andseparated
foodsintoanimalandplantbasedproducts.Theycametotheconclusionthat16percentofthe
emissionsfromplantbasedproductscomesfromtransportation,andamere3percentofanimal
basedproductsemissionscomesfromtransport.Thisstudyfurthersthevalidityofthe2008
studybyChristopherWeberandScottMatthewsthatstatesonly11%ofemissionsfromfood
productioncomesfromtransport.
Onanothernote,weresearchedhowbigfoodcompaniesarebecomingmoresustainable.
Afterlookingthroughafewcompanies,GeneralMillshadasurprisingreportabouttheir
performancewithrespecttosustainability.AccordingtoGeneralMills2015sustainability
report,theyhavereduced,Greenhousegasemissions,energyusage,fuelusageandwaterusage
byatleast20%since2005.Additionally,ourresearchthatfoodtransportationonlyproducesa
smallamountofpollutionrelativetotheentirefoodcycleisalsoevidentinGeneralMillsreport
abouttheirGHGemissions.


JamesBall
DylanJennings
AlainaMead
UNST124g
18November2015

Despitethefactthatfoodtransportationisnotthemostenvironmentallydamagingstepin
thefoodcycle,itisoneofthefewstepsthatwe,theconsumers,havethemostcontrolover.Cat
LazaroffoftheOrganicConsumersOrganization,shedslightontheinterestingrealityoffood
miles.Accordingtoherresearchfrom2002,foodthatyearforThanksgivingtraveledan
averageoftwothousandmilestogettoconsumerstables.Additionally,sheencourages
consumerstobuylocalbecausethefoodsarehealthier,fresher,inseasonandhelpthelocal
economy.Thoughthereisacatch,buyinglocalfoodismoreexpensivebutifconsumersincrease
demandoflocalfoods,localfoodpriceswillbecomemorecompetitivewithfoodfrom
thousandsofmilesaway.
Inanefforttoimprovethequalityoflifeforthoseaheadofuswemustbecome
accountablebybeingmoresustainable.Therelativelyeasiestmethodofbecomingmore
sustainableourselvesistochangeourdiets.Bydemandingmoreenergyintensivefoodsthat
createemissions,weareslowlydamagingtheplanetindirectly.Ourfirststeptohelpthe


JamesBall
DylanJennings
AlainaMead
UNST124g
18November2015
environment,istolimitconsumptionofredmeatandporkwhichwilleventuallyreduceenergy
usageinfoodproduction.Additionally,weconcludedthatfoodproductionandnotfood
transportationisthemostharmfultotheenvironment.


JamesBall
DylanJennings
AlainaMead
UNST124g
18November2015
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SustainableUrbanFoodSystems.Ottawa,ON,CAN:IDRCBooks/Les
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Lazaroff,C.(2002).FoodTravelsFartoReachYourTable.RetrievedNovember18,2015,from
https://www.organicconsumers.org/old_articles/corp/foodtravel112202.php
Webber,Christopher,andH.ScottMathews."FoodMilesandtheRelative
ClimateImpactsofFoodChoicesintheUnitedStates."EnvironmentalScience&
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Cho,R.(2012,September4).HowGreenisLocalFood?.
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NationalResourceDefenceCouncil[NRDC].(2007,November).Foodmiles:Howfaryourfood
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HealthFacts
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https://foodhub.org/files/resources/Food%20Miles.pdf


JamesBall
DylanJennings
AlainaMead
UNST124g
18November2015
WakelandW.,CholetteS.,&VenkatK.(2012).Foodtransportationissuesandreducingcarbon
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