Is Local Food Always Better for the Planet?

It’s Saturday morning at a local market. The smell of bread, fruit, and soil fills the air. You fill your bag with vegetables, cheese, and apples grown just a few kilometres away.

Buying local feels good. It seems better for the planet and for the people who produce your food. But is “local” really the most sustainable choice? When we look at the science, the answer might surprise you.

Why Eating Local Isn’t Always Lower in Carbon

The idea seems obvious. If food travels less, it should emit less CO₂. And in some cases, that’s true. Local food reduces transport distance and keeps supply chains shorter. It also supports regional farmers, strengthens communities, and delivers fresher products.

But when it comes to climate impact, distance is not the biggest driver. Studies show that food transport is responsible for less than 10% of total food emissions. Most of the impact comes from what happens before food ever leaves the farm: how it’s produced, processed, and stored.

In other words, what you eat matters far more than where it comes from.

What Really Drives the Carbon Footprint of Food

Let’s take a closer look. The environmental impact of food is shaped mainly by production factors:

• Livestock feed and manure management

• Fertiliser use and methane emissions

• Deforestation and land use change

• Energy use during processing

In the Our World in Data study, transport is almost invisible in the emissions chart. Beef, cheese, and chocolate dominate it because their production is so resource-intensive.

This means that buying local beef doesn’t make a big difference. But switching from beef to lentils or beans can reduce emissions by up to 50 times.

The Beef Example: How Distance Hardly Matters

Here’s a real-world example:

Producing one kilogram of beef creates about 60 kilograms of CO₂ equivalent. If you buy that beef locally, your total footprint stays roughly the same.

Now imagine that same beef shipped 9,000 kilometres from Central America to the UK by boat. Ocean freight adds just 0.2 kilograms of CO₂ per kilogram of beef, which is about 0.35% of the total footprint.

So, whether you buy from your neighbour or from another continent, the difference is nearly invisible. For foods with a large production footprint, distance barely moves the needle.

When Buying Local Truly Makes a Difference

There are exceptions. Some foods are perishable and must be flown in. Air freight has a carbon footprint up to 50 times higher than shipping.

That’s why local and seasonal choices matter most for these products:

• Asparagus in winter

• Strawberries or berries out of season

• Green beans from faraway countries

  
  

If a food item spoils quickly and had to travel long distances, chances are it flew. In that case, buying local or choosing a seasonal alternative makes a real impact.

Why Local Still Matters (Even if It’s Not Always Lower Carbon)

Local food brings plenty of other benefits beyond emissions. It supports regional farmers, keeps money in local economies, and shortens supply chains, reducing food waste and packaging.

It also creates transparency. You can see where your food comes from, how it’s made, and who produces it. That connection builds trust and community resilience, something global supply chains often lack.

However, from a purely climate perspective, “local” and “sustainable” are not always the same. A local steak still emits more than imported tofu. A greenhouse tomato grown in a cold climate may have a higher footprint than one trucked in from southern Europe.

The most sustainable meals often combine both: local when it counts, and low-impact where it matters most.

The Smarter Swap: What You Eat Beats Where It’s From

If you want to reduce your food-related emissions, focus first on what’s on your plate.

• Choose apples instead of flown-in berries.

• Choose beans instead of beef.

Those swaps deliver a much bigger climate benefit than simply buying local versions of high-impact foods. So, yes — buy local when it’s seasonal, fresh, and not flown in. But remember that your ingredient choices are the real drivers of sustainability.

Key Takeaway

Buying local helps, but it’s not the silver bullet we often imagine. The biggest lever in lowering food emissions lies in diet composition, not distance.

By choosing more plant-based, seasonal, and low-impact ingredients, we can make a measurable difference — one meal at a time.

Because ultimately, what you eat beats where it’s from.

About Ecotarian

At Ecotarian, we help chefs, caterers, and sustainability managers understand the true environmental impact of their menus. Our platform translates complex data — from CO₂ emissions to water and land use — into simple labels and actionable insights.

We make it easy to visualise, compare, and improve the sustainability of every meal served.

💡 Curious how your menu performs? Visit www.ecotarian.eu or contact us at info@ecotarian.eu to start measuring your impact, one meal at a time.

Source:

Hannah Ritchie (2020) - “You want to reduce the carbon footprint of your food? Focus on what you eat, not whether your food is local” Published online at OurWorldinData.org. Retrieved from: 'https://ourworldindata.org/food-choice-vs-eating-local'