{"id":262291,"date":"2023-06-15T22:01:36","date_gmt":"2023-06-15T20:01:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=262291"},"modified":"2023-06-15T22:01:39","modified_gmt":"2023-06-15T20:01:39","slug":"the-guardian-rightly-recognizes-that-eating-local-is-no-climate-solution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=262291","title":{"rendered":"The Guardian Rightly Recognizes That \u201cEating Local\u201d Is No Climate Solution"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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From\u00a0ClimateRealism<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Linnea Lueken<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A recent article in The Guardian<\/em>, titled \u201cIs eating local produce actually better for the planet<\/a>?\u201d correctly concludes that the \u201ceating local\u201d trend actually doesn\u2019t necessarily decrease food related carbon dioxide emissions. In some cases, choosing local produce may increase emissions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The article\u2019s author, Cecilia Nowell, briefly describes the history of the \u201clocavore\u201d movement \u2013 people who advocate for eating food produced within a hundred miles of where you live. She then points out that while most Americans believe that eating local is more environmentally conscious, recently \u201ca series of studies have shown that eating locally might not be as environmentally impactful \u2013 in and of itself \u2013 as advocates once hoped.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nowell explains that the amount of CO2 emissions involved in the transportation of food actually is the smallest share, that production itself makes up the bulk of emissions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn a 2018 paper<\/a>, a team of researchers from the UK and Switzerland found that only 1% to 9% of food\u2019s emissions come from packaging, transport, and retail,\u201d wrote Nowell. \u201cThe vast majority of greenhouse gas emissions \u2013 61% \u2013 come during production, while food is still on the farm.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Climate Realism<\/em> writer H. Sterling Burnett previously made this point in, \u201cThanks, WBUR, For Explaining \u201cEating Local\u201d Has No Impact on Climate Change.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In that post, Burnett explains that while there may be other benefits to eating local produce, stopping climate change is not one of them, writing \u201cthe distance food travels to get to peoples\u2019 plates, from the perspective of having a climate impact, matters less than how the food is produced and how it was transported.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nowell points out that it is just not feasible for all people to eat only locally sourced food, but puzzlingly does go on to discourage the use of \u201cfossil fuel-rich\u201d pesticides and fertilizers\u2014two innovations that have produced a more abundant, less expensive food supply, while reducing land devoted to agriculture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Organic farms require more land to produce the same yields as conventional farms. Research from the Alliance for Science<\/a> showed that if all agriculture were to be done using organic practices, it would lead to an increase of 8-15 percent in deforestation around the world. To banish nitrogen fertilizers would mean half the world\u2019s population would starve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Swedish researchers<\/a> found that organic produce grown in the country actually has up to a 70 percent larger \u201cclimate impact\u201d than conventional farming methods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is nothing wrong with eating locally or home-grown produce, and no reason to stop doing it. To claim it as some kind of climate victory is factually incorrect, as The Guardian<\/em> accurately notes despite being sponsored by the \u201c11th<\/sup> Hour Project,\u201d which gives grants to groups that share the goals of \u201cchallenging the development of fossil fuels and accelerating transformation towards a clean and equitable energy system\u201d and \u201cequitable\u201d agriculture programs, along with other progressive causes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Linnea Lueken<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Linnea Lueken is a Research Fellow with the Arthur B. Robinson Center on Climate and Environmental Policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While she was an intern with The Heartland Institute in 2018, she co-authored a Heartland Institute Policy Brief “Debunking Four Persistent Myths About Hydraulic Fracturing.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Linnea Lueken<\/a><\/blockquote>