The cost of food miles to the UK has been estimated at £9 billion with individual consumers accounting for a large proportion, according to a new report.
The study, commissioned by Defra, shows the bulk of the impact from food transport is down to congestion, to the tune of around £5 billion, and a vast proportion of this, around 59 per cent is from individual consumer shopping trips. In the last ten years, the impact of food miles has increased by 15 per cent.
Within this, however, the impact from heavy goods vehicles has actually fallen, attributed to improved practices in the logistic chain, more efficiency and less empty loads on the road.
However, food and farming minister Lord Bach warned that while the HGV impact had fallen recently, that was after a longer period of significant rises.
Other key areas identified in the report as having an impact include road accidents, climate change, noise and air pollution.
One area of concern highlighted by the report is the impact of airfreight. While the volume of produce being shipped remains relatively small compared to other sector, it is rising rapidly and airfreight accounts for 11 per cent of total C02 emissions from food transport.
The four key areas the report identifies as the places to monitor are urban food kilometres, HGV food kilometres, air food kilometres and C02 emissions.
The government is working with the food industry to encourage widespread adoption of best practice and by measuring performance. The food sector is currently expected to prepare, by 2006, a plan to reduce the impact of transport by 20 per cent by 2012.
Lord Bach said: “This study is an interesting contribution to the food miles debate. It shows that the issue is complex and that a range of factors have an effect on the overall impacts of food products, not purely the distance travelled by individual products.”
While local food and farmers markets offered some solutions to cutting the impact of food miles, Lord Bach pointed out it was not so cut and dried, as in some ways, it could also contribute to the problem through inefficient logistics. “The benefits can be offset by increased road congestion if they are supplied in a less transport efficient way.”
He said the report would act as an ongoing monitor of the situation: “We have to consider how best to act [on the report] as the government, not just now, but year on year.”
Consumers were a big contributing factor to the impact of food transport, but Lord Bach said the government was not going to start telling people how to do their shopping: “The report does provide some pointers for consumers, for example internet buying and home delivery can cut vehicle kilometres and reduce road congestion.
“We don’t want to act as a nanny state, but every citizen must realise the environmental consequences of how they behave.”
