“I understand that factory farming is bad for the environment, but I buy local meat so I’m good right!”
In step 2 I outline that a massive inefficiency in our food network comes from the production of animal-based foods, which leads me to the idea of being a social flexitarian as a baseline. If I procure my meat locally will that eliminate the environmental impact of eating it? Let’s check it out!
Food miles are tiny
For most foods transport only really makes up 10% at most of their total greenhouse gas emissions.
For beef it’s only around 0.5% according to Our World in Data .
The other 99.5% happens cause of the land, the fertiliser, and the cow burping!
Greenhouse gas emissions across the supply chain kg CO₂eq per kg of food. Hover or tap a food to see where its emissions come from. Animal products
Beef (beef herd) 59.6 Beef (beef herd)59.6 kg CO₂eq per kg
Land use changeClearing forest and losing soil carbon 16.327% FarmMethane from animals and rice, fertiliser, manure, machinery 39.466% Animal feedGrowing and processing crops for livestock 1.93% ProcessingEnergy used turning raw produce into food 1.32% TransportGetting it to you, in-country and internationally 0.3<1% RetailRefrigeration and running the shop 0.2<1% PackagingMaking and disposing of the packaging 0.2<1% Lamb & mutton 24.5 Lamb & mutton24.5 kg CO₂eq per kg
Land use changeClearing forest and losing soil carbon 0.52% FarmMethane from animals and rice, fertiliser, manure, machinery 19.580% Animal feedGrowing and processing crops for livestock 2.410% ProcessingEnergy used turning raw produce into food 1.14% TransportGetting it to you, in-country and internationally 0.52% RetailRefrigeration and running the shop 0.2<1% PackagingMaking and disposing of the packaging 0.31% Cheese 21.3 Cheese21.3 kg CO₂eq per kg
Land use changeClearing forest and losing soil carbon 4.521% FarmMethane from animals and rice, fertiliser, manure, machinery 13.162% Animal feedGrowing and processing crops for livestock 2.411% ProcessingEnergy used turning raw produce into food 0.73% TransportGetting it to you, in-country and internationally 0.1<1% RetailRefrigeration and running the shop 0.31% PackagingMaking and disposing of the packaging 0.2<1% Pork 7.3 Pork7.3 kg CO₂eq per kg
Land use changeClearing forest and losing soil carbon 1.622% FarmMethane from animals and rice, fertiliser, manure, machinery 1.723% Animal feedGrowing and processing crops for livestock 2.940% ProcessingEnergy used turning raw produce into food 0.34% TransportGetting it to you, in-country and internationally 0.34% RetailRefrigeration and running the shop 0.23% PackagingMaking and disposing of the packaging 0.34% Chicken 6.1 Chicken6.1 kg CO₂eq per kg
Land use changeClearing forest and losing soil carbon 2.541% FarmMethane from animals and rice, fertiliser, manure, machinery 0.711% Animal feedGrowing and processing crops for livestock 1.830% ProcessingEnergy used turning raw produce into food 0.47% TransportGetting it to you, in-country and internationally 0.35% RetailRefrigeration and running the shop 0.23% PackagingMaking and disposing of the packaging 0.23% Eggs 4.5 Eggs4.5 kg CO₂eq per kg
Land use changeClearing forest and losing soil carbon 0.716% FarmMethane from animals and rice, fertiliser, manure, machinery 1.329% Animal feedGrowing and processing crops for livestock 2.249% ProcessingEnergy used turning raw produce into food 00% TransportGetting it to you, in-country and internationally 0.12% RetailRefrigeration and running the shop 00% PackagingMaking and disposing of the packaging 0.24% Plant foods
Wheat & rye 1.4 Wheat & rye1.4 kg CO₂eq per kg
Land use changeClearing forest and losing soil carbon 0.17% FarmMethane from animals and rice, fertiliser, manure, machinery 0.857% Animal feedGrowing and processing crops for livestock 00% ProcessingEnergy used turning raw produce into food 0.214% TransportGetting it to you, in-country and internationally 0.17% RetailRefrigeration and running the shop 0.17% PackagingMaking and disposing of the packaging 0.17% Tomatoes 1.4 Tomatoes1.4 kg CO₂eq per kg
Land use changeClearing forest and losing soil carbon 0.429% FarmMethane from animals and rice, fertiliser, manure, machinery 0.750% Animal feedGrowing and processing crops for livestock 00% ProcessingEnergy used turning raw produce into food 00% TransportGetting it to you, in-country and internationally 0.214% RetailRefrigeration and running the shop 00% PackagingMaking and disposing of the packaging 0.17% Peas 0.9 Peas0.9 kg CO₂eq per kg
Land use changeClearing forest and losing soil carbon 00% FarmMethane from animals and rice, fertiliser, manure, machinery 0.780% Animal feedGrowing and processing crops for livestock 00% ProcessingEnergy used turning raw produce into food 00% TransportGetting it to you, in-country and internationally 0.111% RetailRefrigeration and running the shop 05% PackagingMaking and disposing of the packaging 05% Bananas 0.7 Bananas0.7 kg CO₂eq per kg
Land use changeClearing forest and losing soil carbon 00% FarmMethane from animals and rice, fertiliser, manure, machinery 0.338% Animal feedGrowing and processing crops for livestock 00% ProcessingEnergy used turning raw produce into food 0.18% TransportGetting it to you, in-country and internationally 0.342% RetailRefrigeration and running the shop 03% PackagingMaking and disposing of the packaging 0.110% Root vegetables 0.3 Root vegetables0.3 kg CO₂eq per kg
Land use changeClearing forest and losing soil carbon 03% FarmMethane from animals and rice, fertiliser, manure, machinery 0.244% Animal feedGrowing and processing crops for livestock 00% ProcessingEnergy used turning raw produce into food 00% TransportGetting it to you, in-country and internationally 0.129% RetailRefrigeration and running the shop 012% PackagingMaking and disposing of the packaging 012%
Source: Our World in Data: Food choice vs eating local , based on Poore & Nemecek (2018). Global averages across 38,700 farms.
So CO₂ emissions as a whole are 10 - 50 times lower for plant-based foods compared to most animal-based foods.
Buy Local
Overall, I think I should be more conscious about buying local produce to avoid the air miles adding up on my food.
Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from transportation make up a very small amount of the emissions from food, and what you eat is far more important than where your food traveled from.
More often than not, animal-based foods have a much larger carbon footprint than plant-based foods, regardless of how far they traveled to reach your plate.
And either way, I’d still be paying for the cow to die, whether it’s in my backyard, your local farm (but it’s humane ), or halfway across the world!