The term “food miles” refers to the distance food travels from the location where it is grown or raised to the location where it is consumed. In other words the distance that food travels from farm to plate. Studies estimate that processed food in the United States travels over 1,300 miles, and fresh produce travels over 1,500 miles before being consumed. The energy invested in the agri-food system affects both farmers and consumers. Knowing about food miles is important no matter where you stand in the agri-food system.

There are a number of great resources available but ATTRA (National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service) as published an excellent bulletin that explains food miles, their effect on producers and consumers as well as provides tips and resources for both to utilize. Visit: http://www.attra.org/attra-pub/PDF/foodmiles.pdf to read the complete document.

Some tools that are included in the above bulletin you might find useful are:

Life Cycles Food Calculator
The Life Cycles food calculator determines the distance and the amount of greenhouse gases saved if a certain food product is bought locally as opposed to imported.

Food Carbon Footprint Calculator
A tool for residents within the UK to calculate their food carbon footprint to better understand the extent to which food decisions impact global warming.

If you are curious about your carbon footprint there are calculators available that take into account all aspects of your life. But the UK calculator figures out your food based carbon footprint.

LCA Food Database
This is a tool for acquiring an aggregated description of emissions, waste, and the resource use from soil to kitchen per unit of different food items.