Sustainable Food Purchasing: Food Transport
Green Dining Best Practices
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Recent studies have confirmed the general rule of thumb1 that significantly more greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions occur during food production than during food transport. As noted in our Meat and Dairy best practices, certain proteins are particularly GHG-intensive and therefore a reduction of those proteins in your facility should be your first step in reducing your energy and climate impact.
Nonetheless, the energy used in food transport is significant. Many food products today travel thousands of miles on inefficient trucks before they wind up on a customer’s plate. Interestingly, reducing the energy use and GHGs associated with food transport is not as simple as “Buying Local” or reducing “Food Miles”. It is also important to realize that certain modes of transport are far less efficient at moving goods than others (for example, air transport produces far more emissions per ton of shipped product than rail).
Additionally, growing produce and fruits in colder regions that require energy intensive greenhouses for production can overwhelm the GHG footprint of transport very quickly. So, the best option is to minimize transport distances, choose foods that are seasonal to your region, and select the most efficient modes of food transport available.
Best practices, step by step:
- Plan menus around local, seasonal offerings. Purchasing local or regionally grown produce and vegetables that are seasonal to your region – and can be produced without the use of energy-intensive “hot boxes” - will reduce shipping distances and the production of greenhouse gases. The Eat Well Guide provides links to seasonal fruits and vegetables by state.
- Ask major suppliers about their transportation methods. Use suppliers and shippers that are working to improve the fuel efficiency of their fleet through programs like EPA’s SmartWay Transport Partnership.
- Stop sourcing products that travel by air. Because food transport by air is especially greenhouse gas intensive, consider eliminating products from your menus that require air travel.
1The environmental footprint of individual food items depends on several factors including the growing practices used on individual farms, modes of transport, travel distances, and how the food is processed and stored along the way. So while general rules of thumb are helpful, keep in mind that the environmental impact of any product may vary based on its unique set of production, distribution, processing, and retail inputs. Rigorous lifecycle analysis is a more precise method of determining the environmental impact of food products.
Posted: 27-Jan-2009; Updated: 22-Jun-2009
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