Top Buy Now Summary References
Home
>
Section
>
Chapter

How far does your food travel on the highway? Food miles and carbon footprint

Lee, E.H.; Stoeltje, G.

Journal of Cleaner Production 518: 145915

2025

ISSN/ISBN: 0959-6526
DOI: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2025.145915
Accession: 095310613

Article/Abstract emailed within 0-6 h
Payments are secure & encrypted
Powered by Stripe
Powered by PayPal

Summary
As concerns over the environmental impacts of food transportation grow, the concepts of food miles and their associated carbon footprint have gained increasing attention. This study proposes a novel food assignment model designed to more accurately estimate food miles and related CO2 emissions. Drawing inspiration from the traffic assignment problem, the model simulates the distribution of food flows across a transportation network. Using county-level production- consumption matrices for four food categories- aquaculture, livestock, crops, and dairy- across Texas, we estimate both food miles and carbon emissions. The results indicate a total annual food miles of 2,719,898 kt-km and CO2 emissions of 274 kt. Among road types, livestock transport along U.S. highways accounted for the largest share, with 1,548,926 kt-km and 126 kt of CO2 emissions annually. Regionally, northern Texas recorded the highest emissions at 106 kt per year. The analysis also reveals that most food is produced in northern Texas and transported to the western and southeastern regions. To assess the model's validity, its estimates were compared to those from conventional food mile calculation methods, showing approximately 5.7% higher results. The proposed approach offers a robust foundation for evaluating and planning sustainable food transportation systems through improved accuracy in food mile assessment.

References

Caputo, V.; Nayga, R.M.; Scarpa, R. 2013: Food miles or carbon emissions? Exploring labelling preference for food transport footprint with a stated choice study Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics 57(4): 465-482
López, L-Antonio; Cadarso, Mía-Angeles; Gómez, N; Tobarra, Mía-Ángeles 2015: Food miles, carbon footprint and global value chains for Spanish agriculture: assessing the impact of a carbon border tax Journal of Cleaner Production 103: 423-436
David Coley; Mark Howard; Michael Winter 2009: Local food, food miles and carbon emissions: A comparison of farm shop and mass distribution approaches Food Policy 34(2): 150-155
Yrjö Virtanen; Sirpa Kurppa; Merja Saarinen; Juha-Matti Katajajuuri; Kirsi Usva; Ilmo Mäenpää; Johanna Mäkelä; Juha Grönroos; Ari Nissinen 2011: Carbon footprint of food approaches from national inputoutput statistics and a LCA of a food portion Journal of Cleaner Production 19(16): 1849-1856
Martindale,W.; McGloin,R.; Jones,M.; Barlow,P. 2008: The carbon dioxide emission footprint of food products and their application in the food system Aspects of Applied Biology: 55-60
Figueiredo, L.; Lima, JPM; Rocha, A. 2024: Adherence to the Mediterranean Food Pattern and Carbon Footprint of Food Intake by Employees of a University Setting in Portugal Nutrients (5): 635
Ngoc Su, D.; Johnson, L.W.; O'Mahony, G.B. 2020: Will foodies travel for food? Incorporating food travel motivation and destination foodscape into the theory of planned behavior Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research 25(9): 1012-1028
Robert, B. Noland; William, A. Cowart 2000: Analysis of Metropolitan Highway Capacity and the growth in vehicle miles of travel Transportation 27(4): 363-390
Yue, Q.; Guo, P. 2021: Managing agricultural water-energy-food-environment nexus considering water footprint and carbon footprint under uncertainty Agricultural Water Management 252: 106899
Weber, C.L.; Matthews, H.Scott. 2008: Food-miles and the relative climate impacts of food choices in the United States Environmental Science and Technology 42(10): 3508-3513
Li, M.; Jia, N.; Lenzen, M.; Malik, A.; Wei, L.; Jin, Y.; Raubenheimer, D. 2022: Global food-miles account for nearly 20% of total food-systems emissions Nature Food 3(6): 445-453
Partalidou, M. 2015: Food miles and future scenario for local food systems: an exploratory study in Greece Outlook on Agriculture 44(2): 151-157
Pratt, S.; Mackenzie, M.; Sutton, J.L. 2017: Food miles and food choices: the case of an upscale urban hotel in Hong Kong Journal of Sustainable Tourism 25(6): 779-795
Pretty, J.; Ball, A.; Lang, T.M.rison, J. 2005: Farm costs and food miles: An assessment of the full cost of the UK weekly food basket Food policy 30(1): 1-19
Gooch, M.; Matsubuchi-Shaw, M.; Bucknell, D.; LaPlain, D.; Kohler, L. 2022: Quantifying the carbon footprint of household food waste and associated GHGs in Oakville, Ontario, and a municipality's role in reducing both food waste and GHGs Canadian Geographer 66(4): 769-782
Boyer, D.; Sarkar, J.; Ramaswami, A. 2019: Diets, Food Miles, and Environmental Sustainability of Urban Food Systems: Analysis of Nine Indian Cities Earth's Future 7(8): 911-922
Okechukwu Ukaga 2010: Kelly Rae Chi, James MacGregor, Richard King: Fair miles: recharting the food miles map Environment, Development and Sustainability 12(3): 441-443
Kong, X.; Su, L.; Wang, H.; Qiu, H. 2022: Agricultural carbon footprint and food security: an assessment of multiple carbon mitigation strategies in China China Agricultural Economic Review 14(4): 686-708
Witshire,J.; Tucker,G.; Fendler,A. 2008: Carbon footprint of British food production Food Science and Technology: 4, 23-26
Naresh Kumar, S.; Chakabarti, B. 2019: Energy and Carbon Footprint of Food Industry Environmental Footprints and Eco-Design of Products and Processes: 19-44