Food Miles

Consumers and environmentalists in developed countries have understood the concept of “food miles” for years, but its popularity has recently increased. This has implications for exporters from developing countries, which have started to create a niche in the organic foods sector where the concept of food miles has long been an issue. In the concept, the focus on distance traveled is an attempt to highlight the hidden costs of energy use. The food miles concept’s recent rise in popularity reflects the globalization of the food sector, rising fuel prices, and a greater awareness of the link between transport and carbon emissions.

While the food miles idea has some merit, some argue that the concept is fundamentally flawed and that its advocates are not only misguided, but may be doing more harm than good. There are three reasons for this: (i) the lower transportation pollution benefits of locally produced goods may be offset by increased production phase pollution; (ii) the mode (e.g., road, sea, rail) and scale of transport are important; (iii) the concept of food miles emphasizes one factor (i.e., energy) but ignores others (i.e., pesticides, labor, and capital).

The food miles concept is just one part of organic agriculture, a powerful market-based development strategy whose potential is yet to be fully explored. Read more on the topic in the forthcoming Organic Agriculture, Climate Change, and the Millennium Development Goals, edited by former ADBI senior research fellow, Sununtar Setboonsarng. In October, at the end of her five-year-secondment from ADB, Sununtar said that she was grateful to ADBI for the opportunity to represent poor farmers to voice their views in language that policymakers could understand.”

This article is adapted from ADBI Working Paper No. 118, “No Through Road: The Limitations of Food Miles.” View the full paper.