Question

What are the disadvantages of food miles?

Answer 1

The concept of "food miles" - the distance food travels from where it is grown to where it is finally purchased or consumed by the end user - is an intriguing one when it comes to carbon footprints. How percent of the food you eat today was produced locally? How much of it will travel hundreds, if not thousands, of kilometres before reaching your plate? The more food miles a food has, the less sustainable it is and the less environmentally desirable it is.

Complete answer:
One of the biggest drawbacks of food miles is that it ignores the costs involved in production, as well as inputs such as labour and capital.
The “food miles” argument basically suggests that food farmed locally is better for the environment. The most common explanation offered is that bringing imported food to market (for example, New Zealand lamb, apples, and onions to the UK) necessitates the use of a lot of fossil fuels (and hence produces a lot of carbon emissions). Locally farmed food, on the other hand, uses less fossil fuel, emits fewer carbon/greenhouse emissions, and is therefore better on a global scale.

However, there are a few errors in the logic behind the food miles argument. The assumption that the product is transported by air is one popular picture that has circulated in the media in relation to the "New Zealand apples to the UK" issue. Air travel emits a significant amount of greenhouse gases (although the aviation industry is attempting to reduce this), and the idea of products being transported from one side of the world to the other is unappealing to many ecologically conscious people. However, in the case of New Zealand lamb, apples, and onions bound for the United Kingdom, none of these commodities are delivered by air.
Instead, they are transported by ship, which consumes less fossil fuel (and hence emits less greenhouse gases) per kilogramme of produce. And, as some have pointed out, the quantity of fossil fuel used to import food pales in comparison to the amount of fossil fuel used to transport the produce from the point of entry into the country to the depot, the store, and finally the consumer's home.

Second, the food miles/carbon emissions argument only addresses one component of a producer's lifecycle: the act of moving it from point A to point B.

Note:-
Furthermore, shopping locally benefits your local community. You are assisting local farmers and improving the local economy. Farmers' markets are ideal for this since you can meet the people who cultivate the food you buy and develop a relationship with them. This is fantastic for establishing a sense of community. Furthermore, farmers' markets utilise less packaging (less waste) than supermarket items and often pay a more equitable price to the grower, even if the price difference may not be noticeable.