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Transporting food generates whopping amounts of carbon dioxide

Domestic and international transport of food accounts for a large proportion of food-system emissions.Credit: Camilo Freedman

Moving fruit and vegetables in refrigerated vehicles is particularly emissions-intensive.

By Freda Kreier
Nature
July 1, 2022

Excerpt:

Transporting ingredients and food products accounts for nearly one-fifth of all carbon emissions in the food system — a much bigger slice of the emissions pie than previously thought, according to the first comprehensive estimate of the industry’s global carbon footprint1.

Clearing land for farming, raising livestock and moving food to and from shops adds a large amount of greenhouse gas to the atmosphere. The United Nations estimates that growing, processing and packaging food accounts for one-third of all greenhouse-gas emissions. This has led to an explosion of studies looking into how food systems impact the climate, from causing damaging land-use changes to releasing greenhouse gases, says Jason Hill, an environmental scientist at the University of Minnesota in St Paul.

But the complexity of the food system has made it challenging to measure how much carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is a direct result of the system’s emissions, particularly those from transportation. Previously, most studies underestimated emissions because they focused on only those generated by moving a single product — such as a chocolate bar — to and from the shop. This method tends to miss the multitude of other trucks, ships and aeroplanes involved in gathering all the ingredients needed to make the bar in the first place, says Li.

Read the complete article here.