FOOD MILES

Food Miles & Global Sustainability

Abstract

The main purpose of this paper is to analyze the impact of the production, transport and consumption of the Food Miles on global sustainability. In order to check out the impact, the quantitative research methodology has been conducted in this research paper. The data has been gathered from the primary and secondary both the sources. To collect the data from the primary sources, the questionnaires have been distributed to 22 people. At the same time, to collect the secondary research, data has been obtained from 10 retail companies in UK. From the conducted research it is analyzed that there is a great impact of the production, transport and consumption of the food miles in increasing the global sustainability. Thus, it can be fairly said that global sustainability development is dependent on the food miles, production, consumption and transportation.

Food Miles & Global Sustainability

Introduction

The main purpose of this paper is to develop the impact of the consumption, transport and production of food miles in global sustainability. Food miles can be defined narrowly or broadly in the given ways:

According to a narrow definition, it is of kilometers traveled by food, the place of production to the place of consumption.

According to a broader definition, food miles kilometers include all the products and services involved in the production of the final product (eg fertilizers, packaging, etc.)..

Rationale of the Study

The issue of the global sustainability is increasing with the passing times. This is the reason why a huge concentration is provided to the factors which in any way affect the global sustainability. Food Miles is also a very important concept which is gaining popularity with the passing times. This is the reason why this study on the impact of production, transport and consumption of food miles on the global sustainability is very important.

Background of the Study

To measure the environmental impact of transporting food we eat, the concept of food miles have been created in the 1990s (Pirog, 2001, p. 45). The concept is interesting to reflect on some implications of our food consumption. Fair trade is firmly committed to a sustainable development. It is therefore essential for fair trade actors to question their business practices, particularly in regard to transport goods over long distances.

Today, in the globalized economy, many products take long distances before reaching the place where they are consumed. The transport of these products usually involves the consumption of fossil fuels, and therefore CO2 emissions (Halweil, 2002, p. 23). Food miles can therefore give us valuable information about the climate impact of goods transported. The great interest of food miles is their ability to attract the attention of consumers on unnecessary distances traveled by many food products. At the same time, they serve to highlight the important role it can play in local food production at the preservation of the environment.

However, it is important to focus on food miles to establish a rule correctly measuring the sustainability of food (Horrigan, 2002, p. 445). Based solely on food miles to assess the environmental impact, it ...