INRA - "Food miles"

The organisational mode of the agrifood industry has largely contributed to increasing the gap between producers and consumers, generating the transport of goods over increasingly long distances. At a time of increasing debate on environmental concerns, the efficiency of our consumption modes has come under review in light of the amounts of CO2 emitted per kilometre travelled. Reducing the distance that separates producers from consumers may be beneficial from an environmental point of view. Although initially attractive, the concept of food miles nonetheless masks a series of economic, social and environmental challenges. Is it better to consume a product grown locally in a greenhouse, or another grown in an open field but at a greater distance? Studies on organic products argued that the beneficial environmental effects of this mode of production may be cancelled out by the environmental impact of their transport.

From a scientific point of view, it is therefore important to develop a consensual and standardised calculation method. Several methods are currently being explored and take account of all stages in the life cycle of a product, from the supply of raw materials to the elimination of waste by consumers. Debate must go beyond simply taking account of the type of transport and also include other criteria for sustainability, such as land use and water and energy consumption.

Although this concept is somewhat ambiguous at present, it nonetheless serves to compare production sectors and is intended to guide consumers in their purchases, or even to modify their preferences. Some distributors (Tesco in the UK and Casino in France) have used "food miles" as a marketing tool to promote their products. Seen as pioneers in this approach, an established norm in this respect, acting as a reference point, would give these companies a competitive advantage. For the moment, these two groups enjoy the support of governments seeking arguments related to the relocation of activities.

It is very difficult to assess how consumers perceive and take account of this new marketing pitch. Indeed, on which criterion should consumers base their choice between purchasing Spanish peaches shipped to France by lorry and bananas brought from the Caribbean by boat? Such choices based on supposed environmental impacts should not mask their social dimensions: should preference be given to local production in the name of strengthening the social fabric, or to the economic development of small producers in developing countries? In the name of environmental benefits, will such practices not tend to encourage disguised protectionism or supplant competitors? And finally, the authors of this study found that this notion of food miles was difficult to apply when products were not interchangeable. Thus the carbon footprint of consuming Ethiopian coffee cannot be evaluated on the same basis as that of consuming a vegetable which can be produced in France.

These limitations and precautions for use demonstrate that the notion of food miles covers a complex range of challenges that consumers do not necessarily perceive, or only if they study the issue in considerable depth.

"Food miles": precautions when applying an attractive concept

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