Relying on ‘local food’ is a distant dream for most of the world

- Advertisement -
- Advertisement -
- Advertisement -
- Advertisement -

Globalisation has revolutionised food production and consumption in recent decades and cultivation has become more efficient As a result, diets have diversified and food availability has increased in various parts of the globe. However, it has also led to a situation where the majority of the world population live in countries that are dependent on, at least partially, imported food. This can intensify vulnerabilities during any kind of global crisis, such as the current COVID-19 pandemic, as global food supply chains are disrupted.

Aalto University dissertation researcher, Pekka Kinnunen, says: “There are big differences between different areas and the local foliage. For example, in Europe and North America, temperate crops, such as wheat, can be obtained mostly within a radius of 500 kilometres. In comparison, the global average is about 3,800 kilometres.”

The recent study, published in Nature Food and led by Kinnunen, modelled the minimum distance between crop production and consumption that humans around the world would need to be able to meet their food demand. The study was conducted in collaboration with the University of Columbia, the University of California, the Australian National University and the University of Göttningen. The study factored in six key crop groups for humans: temperate cereals (wheat, barley, rye), rice, corn, tropical grains (millet, sorghum), tropical roots (cassava) and pulses. The researchers modelled globally the distances between production and the consumer for both normal production conditions and scenarios where production chains become more efficient due to reduced food waste and improved farming methods.

It was shown that 27% of the world’s population could get their temperate cereal grains within a radius of fewer than 100 kilometres. The share was 22% for tropical cereals, 28% for rice and 27% for pulses. In the case of maize and tropical roots, the proportion was only 11-16%, which Kinnunen says displays the difficulty of relying solely on local resources.

Foodsheds as areas of self-sufficiency

“We defined foodsheds as areas within which food production could be self-sufficient. In addition to food production and demand, food fences describe the impact of transport infrastructure on where food could be obtained,” Kinnunen explains.

The study also showed that foodsheds are mostly relatively compact areas for individual crops. When crops are looked at as a whole, foodsheds formed larger areas, spanning the globe. This indicates that the diversity of our current diets creates global, complex dependencies.

According to Associate professor Matti Kummu, who was also involved in the study, the results clearly show that local production alone cannot meet the demand for food; at least not with current production methods and consumption habits. Increasing the share of effectively managed domestic production would probably reduce both food waste and greenhouse gas emissions. However, at the same time, it could lead to new problems such as water pollution and water scarcity in very densely populated areas, as well as vulnerabilities during such occurrences as poor harvests or large-scale migration.

“The ongoing COVID-19 epidemic emphasises the importance of self-sufficiency and local food production. It would be important also to assess the risks that dependence on imported agricultural inputs such as animal feed proteins, fertilisers and energy, might cause,” says Kummu.

Home of Science
Follow me

- Advertisement -

Discover

Sponsor

Latest

Andy Murray wants to shield kids from ‘damaging’ social mediaon June 25, 2025 at 9:00 pm

Sir Andy Murray says he is trying to protect his children from "damaging" social media platforms as he supports more action following Katie Boulter's...

Covid: More than 6,000 vaccinated in Bolton over varianton May 17, 2021 at 9:03 am

Thousands of people got jabs in Bolton over the weekend as the town battles the Indian variant.image copyrightReutersMore than 6,200 people were vaccinated in...

Customers spend second night snowed-in at pubon November 28, 2021 at 12:17 pm

Dozens of people are still unable to leave the Tan Hill Inn due to heavy snowfall.Image source, Tan Hill InnDozens of customers at Britain's...

Google drops pledge on AI use for weaponson February 5, 2025 at 12:43 am

The tech giant has updated the principles governing its development of artificial intelligence.Google drops pledge on AI use for weapons35 minutes agoLucy HookerBBC Business...

Lollies to be given to Leeds clubbers to keep them quieton January 15, 2025 at 6:51 pm

The measure is to be taken at Home and Carousel in Leeds city centre, which opened last year.The measure is to be taken at...
Home of Science
Follow me