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Sharon Palmer, RDN The Plant-Powered Dietitian

• Award-winning nutrition expert

• Author of the Plant-Powered

Diet and Plant-Powered for

Life

• Editor, Environmental Nutrition

and nutrition editor, Today’s

Dietitian

• Blogger, The Plant-Powered

Blog

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Learning Objectives

After completing this continuing education course, nutrition

professionals should be able to:

1. Define local food and food miles in today’s food system.

2. Understand distance food is traveling in Western food

systems.

3. List factors that impact carbon footprint beyond food

miles.

4. Identify strategies to reduce carbon footprint by food

choices.

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My Journey

I come from a long line of farmers!

Images: My father’s farm, Minnesota, Idaho, Sharon Palmer, RDN

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My Journey

My mother grew up on a farm, too.

Images: Washington State, Sharon Palmer, RDN

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My Journey

I helped grow food, too.

Image: Washington, Sharon Palmer, RDN

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“Fall in love with

plants and they will

love you back,” Sharon Palmer, RDN,

Plant-Powered for Life

There are 40,000 edible species

of plants on the planet, each with

the power to nourish and help

heal our bodies; each plant has

its own story. DYK there are

25,000 types of tomatoes alone?

Images: Santa Rosa Heirloom Festival, Sharon Palmer, RDN

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Local Eating is Hot!

• It’s on the top trends list for 2016-

2017

• Local sourcing of produce, meat and

seafood among top restaurant trends

(NRA What’s Hot Culinary Forecast)

• Focus on local, farm-to-table

restaurants, neighborhood, co-ops,

and CSAs continue to rise

(EcoWatch)

• Higher income consumers more

likely to purchase foods labeled

“organic” (IFIC Food & Health

Survey 2015)

• Google “local foods”: 24,100,000 hits

Image: Pasadena Farmers Market, Sharon Palmer, RDN

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Local Food is Growing • In the last 20 years, local foods

consumed in US tripled - 2% of food consumed (USDA)

• Since 2006-2007, several local food marketing channels have experienced tremendous growth (NSAC):

– Farmers markets have grown by 180 percent since 2006

– Regional food hubs have grown by 288 percent since 2006-2007

– School district participation in farm to school programs has increased by 430 percent since 2006

Image: Pasadena Farmers Market, Sharon Palmer, RDN

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Local Food is Growing

In 2012, 7.8% of US

farms (163,675) sold

food through local food

marketing channels,

with majority (70%)

selling solely through

DTC. The other 30%

used combination of

DTC and intermediated

channels or only

intermediated channels

(NSAC)

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The Local Food Movement • Local food is alternative to global food

model: food travels long distances

before it reaches consumer

• Connects food producers and

consumers in same geographic region

in order to:

– Develop more self-reliant and

resilient food networks

– Improve local economies

– Improve health, environmental,

community, or social impact of

particular place (Agriculture and

Human Values)

• Gaining traction in developed countries,

including US and Europe (Worldwatch)

Image: Three Sisters, LA, Sharon Palmer, RDN

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What is Local? • No single definition exists; geographic distance

varies within the movement

• Definition of locavore: practice of eating food

that is grown locally. Origin: Almaden, San

Jose, Santa Cruz, SF. Being locavore

decreases amount of GGE, as food consumed

sourced locally, instead trucked in to my city

(Urban Dictionary)

• Common definition: food grown within 100 miles

of point of purchase/consumption (Time)

• 2008 survey of US consumers: 2/3 considered

local food = food grown within 100 miles

(Leopold Center)

• US Congress, 2008 Food, Conservation, and

Energy Act: total distance product can be

transported, still considered “locally or

regionally produced agricultural food product” is

less than 400 miles from origin, or within state

produced” (USDA)

Image: Local Radishes served in London, Sharon Palmer, RDN

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What is Local?

• Sometimes local means food grown within a

county, state or province, or even, in the

case of some small European nations,

within country

• Some organizations supporting local less

likely to put numbers on things

• Iowa local food shifted from signifying food

grown within a county or neighboring one to

food grown anywhere in state. For some in

agricultural community, promoting and

eating "local Iowa food" is almost food

patriotism aimed at counteracting forces of

globalization that put state's family farmers

at risk. (Worldwatch)

Image: local food from Kyoto, Japan, Sharon Palmer, RDN

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The 100-Mile Diet

Alisa Smith and J.B. MacKinnon, authors of The 100-Mile Diet, chose

this boundary for their experiment in eating locally because "a 100-mile

radius is large enough to reach beyond a big city and small enough to

feel truly local. And it rolls off the tongue more easily than the ‘160-

kilometer diet.'"

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The Locavore Index

The five top-ranking states:

– Vermont

– Maine

– New Hampshire

– Oregon

– Massachusetts

The six lowest-ranking states:

– Texas

– Arizona

– Nevada

– Florida

– Louisiana

– Mississippi Source: Strolling of the Heifers Locovore Index

http://www.strollingoftheheifer.com/locavore/ 15

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Why are People Drawn to Local?

Lots of reasons, including:

– Healthier food: organic, fresher, riper, less pesticides, increase fruit and vegetable consumption

– Environmental benefits: reduce transportation time; support more sustainable agriculture, crop rotation, avoid monoculture

– Economic benefits: lower costs

– Community benefits: keep money in the community, support local farmers

Image: Nashville farmers market, Sharon Palmer, RDN

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Local Mania!

• The Local Movement is

alive and well all over

the country!

• Locovore Dinners

Popping Up

• Outstanding in the Field:

Setting tables at the

source of ingredients,

serving from farm to

table across the country;

since 1999, roving

culinary adventure

Image: Locavore dinner, Monrovia, CA,

Sharon Palmer, RDN

Image: Outstanding in the Field

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Chefs are in Love with Local

• Calling out name of farms on

menus, websites

• Detail life history of ingredient

• Create sense of place for a food

• Foraging is hot

• Creating desire for specific food

ingredients

Image: Menu board at The Grocery, Charleston, Sharon Palmer, RDN

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Chefs are in Love with Local

• Dan Barber, Chef at Blue Hill and Blue Hill at Stone Barns,

New York

• Working 4-season farm, sourcing from fields and pasture and

other local farms, Hudson Valley

• No menu, offered “Grazing, Rooting, Pecking Menu” from the

field and market ($218/person)

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Locol Watts, Revolutionary Fast Food

• “Locol is about real, fast food made with the ideology, heart

and science of a chef.”

• “The chefs think about what to feed you, how to take care of

you”

• Healthy, sustainable fast food with a chef’s touch

• $4 burgers, chicken (with grains mixed in), $6 chili bowls, no

soda, fries

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Foraging is Hot

• Noma, world’s best restaurant, Chef

Rene Redzipi

• The Nordic Food Lab

• One of the most famous foragers in the

world

• VILD MAD site: resource for exploring

wild food.

Image: Rene Redzipi, Sharon Palmer, RDN

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Food Miles in the Food System

• Concept of "food miles” has come to

dominate local food movement

discussion, particularly in US, UK,

parts of Western Europe

• Helps describe today’s conventional

food system that's centralized,

industrialized, and complex

• Since our food is transported miles in

ships, trains, trucks, and planes,

attention to food miles links up with

broader concerns about GGE from

fossil fuel-based transport

(WorldWatch Institute)

Image: Nashville farmers market, Sharon Palmer, RDN

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The Conventional, Global, Industrial

Food System • For most of human history until

several decades ago, most

people ate food from local

sources

• As farms consolidated in past 50

years, so has food processing

• Consolidation means food

transported greater distances,

production concentrated into

fewer operations

• Implications for food safety, food

security, and loss of small

processing establishments

(slaughterhouse, canneries)

(Food and Foodways, 2010)

Image: Community garden, CA, Sharon Palmer, RDN

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The Conventional, Global, Industrial

Food System • Development of

refrigerated trucking,

methods of harvesting

enables foods to be

shipped over very long

distances at relatively low

costs (Local Food

Systems)

• Conventional food system

relies upon centralized

processing/packaging

facilities sometimes

located far from

farms/consumers

(Worldwatch)

• Monocropping (fruits and vegetables)

and factory farming (animal products)

often norm on large farms (Food and

Foodways, 2010)

• Farm products transported to

centralized facility for packaging,

processing, inspection, then

transported nationally/internationally to

reach destination: usually retail

establishment (Worldwatch)

Image: Farm in California, Sharon Palmer, RDN

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How Far Food is Traveling • Researchers calculated ingredients

of typical Swedish breakfast (apple,

bread, butter, cheese, coffee,

cream, orange juice, sugar) traveled

distance equal to circumference of

Earth before reaching table (World

Watch Magazine)

• Researchers in Iowa found milk,

sugar, strawberries in carton

strawberry yogurt collectively

journeyed 2,211 miles to processing

plant (Leopold Center)

• Typical American prepared meal

contains ingredients from at least

five countries outside US (NRDC)

• Researchers analyzed

transport of 28 fruits &

vegetables to Iowa markets;

produce in conventional

system traveled average 1,518

miles, locally sourced food

traveling average 44.6 miles

(Leopold Center)

Image: Food market Stockhom, Sweden, Sharon Palmer, RDN

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How Far Food is

Traveling

Studied 30 produce items;

only 2 (pumpkins,

mushrooms) traveled less

than 500 miles; 6 (grapes,

lettuce, spinach, broccoli,

cauliflower, green peas)

traveled over 2,000 miles

to reach Chicago market.

Mexico source of 21.

(Leopold Center)

Source: Leopold Center

Image: Food market, San Francisco, Sharon Palmer, RDN

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Local Food Production Model

• Food often starts on more sustainable

farms (Local Food Systems)

• Shorter distribution distance between

grower, producer, consumer

• Often cut out middlemen involved in

processing, packaging, transporting,

selling food

• Generally processed on farm itself

• Two primary markets: direct-to-

consumer & direct-to-retail, foodservice,

institution

• DTC programs: Farmers markets, CSAs,

other options (pick-your-own farms, on-

site farm stands/stores, gleaning

programs (Sustainable Table)

Image: Farmers market, Westlake Village, CA, Sharon Palmer, RDN

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Local Food: Farmers Markets

• Common direct-to-consumer

operation

• Communal spaces in which multiple

farmers gather to sell farm products

directly to consumers

• May be municipally or privately

managed; may be seasonal or year-

round

• Farmers may have to pay vendor’s fee

to participate, must usually transport

farm products to farmers' market site

• On the rise! Number increased from

1,755 in 1994 to 8,284 in 2014

(USDA)

Image: Charleston farmers market, Sharon Palmer, RDN

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Local Food:

Community Supported Agriculture

• CSA participants often pick up

shares in communal location, or

may be delivered to consumer

• USDA estimates 2,500 CSAs

currently operating in US (Local

Food Systems)

Image: CSA, Sierra Madre, CA, Sharon Palmer, RDN

• Community Supported

Agriculture (CSAs) direct-

to-consumer programs in

which consumers buy

“share” of local farm’s

harvest

• Consumers often required

to pay for share of harvest

up front, which distributes

risks and rewards of

farming amongst

consumers and farmer

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Direct to Retail,

Foodservice and Institution

• Growing component of local

food systems

• Provide farm products

directly to retail,

foodservice, institutions

• Programs cut out

middlemen in storing,

processing, transporting

food destined for

grocery/retail stores,

restaurants, schools,

hospitals, other institutions

Image: Supermarket, Davis, CA, Sharon Palmer, RDN

• Farmers deliver farm products

directly to establishments or food

hub (centralized location where

farmers drop off farm products for

distribution)

(Local Food Systems)

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Does Local Reduce Food Miles?

• Eating local just

seems like common

sense

• At most basic level,

fewer transport miles

= fewer emissions

• Conventional food

distribution system

uses 4-17 times

more fuel, emits 5-17

times more CO2

than local/regional

(state-wide) systems,

per study in Iowa

(Leopold Center)

WASD: Weighted average source distance

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Does Local Reduce Food Miles?

Canadian study estimated replacing

imported food with equivalent items

locally grown in Waterloo, Ontario

region would save transport-related

emissions equivalent nearly 50,000

metric tons CO2, or equivalent of

taking 16,191 cars off road (World

Watch Magazine)

Study found typical Japanese family could reduce CO2 emissions by 300 kg annually by eating locally (Transport for a Sustainable Future)

Image: Farmers market, Ojai, CA, Sharon Palmer, RDN

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Industrial Food Impacts on Environment

Industrial farming has been associated

with negative impacts:

• Environment:

polluting air, surface

water, and ground

water; over-consuming

fossil fuel and water,

degrading soil, inducing

erosion, accelerating loss

of biodiversity

• Health of farm workers

• Degrading socioeconomic fabric of surrounding communities

• Impairing health and quality of life of community residents

(Environmental Health Perspectives)

Image: Farmers market, WA, Sharon Palmer, RDN

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Local Food Impacts on Sustainability

In contrast, many small-scale, local farms focus on sustainable

practices, such as minimized pesticide use, no-till agriculture and

composting, minimized transport to consumers, and minimal to no

packaging for their farm products (Geography, 2002)

Image: Cauliflower at farmers market in Davis, CA, Sharon Palmer, RDN

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Food Safety Concerns

As production networks in

conventional food system have

become increasingly consolidated,

distribution networks increasingly

globalized, risk of food safety

problems has increased

Consolidation of meat and

produce production,

including animal

slaughter/processing,

means more possibilities of

improper processing,

handling, preparation

affecting vast quantities of

food, and subsequently

consumers (Environmental

Health Perspectives)

Image: Farmers Market, Calabasas, CA, Sharon Palmer, RDN

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Food Safety Concerns

• Recent multi-state outbreaks

affecting hundreds of people

traced to individual farms, food

processing facilities, and food

handlers. (Epidemiology,

2002)

• When small amount of

contamination enters

consolidated production

systems, vast quantities of

food product being processed

and distributed nationally (or

globally) may be affected due

to sheer volume of food

produced (Clinical Infectious

Diseases, 2004)

• Tracing outbreaks of foodborne

illnesses also more difficult

because production/ distribution

of conventional food products,

such as ground beef, often

involves multiple farms, food

processors, food distributors

(Clinical Infectious Diseases,

2004)

Image: Farmers Market, Pasadena, CA, Sharon Palmer, RDN

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Nutrition Quality

• Local fruits and vegetables often fresher, do not require long distances for transport, can be harvested closer to peak ripeness

• Many fruits/vegetables contain more nutrients when allowed to ripen naturally on parent plant (Is Local More Nutritious?)

Image: Tomato picked for fresh distribution, Davis, CA, Sharon Palmer, RDN

• Meat from animals raised

sustainably on pasture more

nutritious; grass-fed beef

higher in HDL/omega-3s, lower

in LDL, higher in vitamins A and

E, than factory farmed beef

(Nutrition Journal)

• Sustainably produced food

means less agricultural

chemicals, antibiotics,

hormones

(SustainableTable)

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Impact of Food Miles on Food

Source: Illinois Dept Agriculture

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Local Food and Improved Nutrition

• Eating locally correlated with

– improved nutrition

– increased likelihood of

making healthier food

choices

– obesity prevention

– reduced risk of diet-related

chronic disease

• This is mainly because food is

more nutritious, fresher, and

less processed (USDA)

Image: San Francisco farmers market, Sharon Palmer, RDN

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Food Security

• Local food systems may help improve food security by making local, fresh food available to populations with limited access to healthful food (FAO)

• More farmers' markets accept food stamps today (Local Food Systems)

• Local food systems support local economies, generate jobs (Worldwatch)

• On average, buying local keeps 65% of dollars in community, shopping at large chain stores keeps 40% (Utah State)

Image: Monrovia farmers market, Sharon Palmer, RDN

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Local Food Shares a Story

• You can gain insight into

food’s story through

talking with people who

grew it

• You can ask questions

about pesticides,

herbicides, growth

hormones, animal

treatment, fertilizers, etc

• Getting to know local

producers gives stronger

sense of place,

relationships, trust, pride

within community (Utah

State University)

Image: Greens, local market, Vancouver, BC, Sharon Palmer, RDN

• Supporting local food helps

preserve genetic diversity

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Food Transportation Impacts

• Not only are

distances that food

travels important, but

modes of transport

have large effect on

how much pollution

generated

• Importing food by

airplane results in far

greater emissions of

greenhouse gases

than imports by ship

Source: NRDC

Image: Blueberries, Finland, Sharon Palmer, RDN

Foods Frequently Imported By Air

Main Country of Origin

Asparagus Peru

Bell Peppers Netherlands

Blackberries Chile

Blueberries Chile, New Zealand, Argentina

Cherries Chile

Raspberries Chile

• In 2005, import of fruits, nuts, vegetables into CA by airplane

released 70,000 tons CO2, equivalent to 12,000+ cars on road

(NRDC)

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Food Transportation Impacts

Although

exceptions, in most

cases locally

produced food best

choice for

minimizing global

warming, pollutants

When combine all

locally grown food,

still produced less

CO2 emissions in

transport than any

one imported

product (NRDC)

Source: Region of Waterloo Public Health

Source: NRDC

Image: Sharon Palmer, RDN

Transport Mode

GHG emission levels (g per tonne-kilometre)

Air 1101.0

Marine 130.3

Rail 21.2

Truck 269.9

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The Case of Year Round Food Availability

• People want produce year round, instead of seasonally—thus

high exports, even when local food is available, often competing

with local produce

• Pollution in distribution centers, often in low-income communities,

linked with increased health risks, per research (NRDC)

Source: NRDC

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The Case of Year Round Food

Availability

Top foods and beverage

imports into CA (table

grapes, navel oranges,

wine, garlic, rice, and

fresh tomatoes); each

produced in and exported

from CA: caused pollution

45 x more, global warming

500 X more than local

grown foods (NRDC)

950 cases asthma, 16,870 missed

schools days, 43 hospital admissions,

37 premature deaths could be

attributed to worsened air quality from

food imports, according to freight

transport–related projections by the

California Air Resources Board

Image: Broccoli, LA, Sharon Palmer, RDN

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Imported Food Diet • Transporting food one of

fastest-growing sources of

GGE.

• 817 million tons/yr food

shipped around planet,

resulting in basic diet of

imported products use

4 X energy, produce

4 X emissions equivalent

to domestic diet

• Term “food miles” for food’s

impact on environment may

soon be replaced by “life cycle carbon

footprint”, which encapsulates more than

transportation, but everything food product

goes through that contributes to carbon

footprint (Center for Environmental Education)

Image: Local food stand, Gilroy, CA, Sharon Palmer, RDN

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Beyond Food Miles

Other issues impact how food contributes to climate change, such as

growing and harvesting. 83% of food’s greenhouse gas emissions come

from growing and harvesting food; transportation only 11%, final delivery

from producer to retail, 4% (UK, Dept of Environment, Food, and Rural

Affairs)

Source: Heller and Keoleian. Life Cycle-Based Sustainability Indicators

for Assessment of the U.S. Food System. 2000.

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Local Doesn’t Equal Sustainable

• Labeling product “local” does not indicate environmental impact of products’ transportation

• Food mile labeling leads conversation away from which product is more sustainably produced

• Food miles can be cloudy if specific local food grown out of season or in unsustainable, energy-intensive way

• For example, greenhouse may use increased energy during colder months; use of high amount of pesticides in areas (Center for Environmental Education)

Image: Local produce at farmers market, Monrovia, CA, Sharon Palmer, RDN

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Local Doesn’t Equal Sustainable • Food miles alone are not valid

indicator of sustainability of food system (UK Depart for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Report)

• In some cases, reducing

food miles may reduce

energy use, but there

may be other social,

environmental, economic

trade-offs. Consequences

of food transport are

complex, require group of

indicators to determine

global impact of food

miles (Center for

Environmental Education)

Image: Local cherries, Washington, Sharon Palmer, RDN

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Local is Not Always Best

• Analysis energy

consumption of

tomatoes in

Sweden,

environmentally

beneficial to

purchase imported

outdoor tomatoes

from Canary Islands

during winter than to

purchase hot house-

grown local

tomatoes (Ecological

Economics).

• Some locations much

better than others at

producing certain foods

• CA strawberries grown

most of year under

almost ideal conditions;

1 hectare CA land yields

50,000+ kg berries,

compared to 7-10,000 in

Ontario, in the process

allowing for much more

intensive/efficient use

fuel, capital, machinery,

other resources. (Buy

Global, 2009)

Image: Fruit in Swedish

supermarket, Sharon Palmer, RDN

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Local is Not Always Best

• Sugar produced in Zambia,

Mauritius consumed in Europe had

lower carbon footprint than locally

produced alternatives (Carbon

Footprints in Food Systems)

• In case of certain exports from New

Zealand, energy used and CO2

produced was 1/3 of that caused by

producers in UK; NZ can

produce/ship apples at lower

environmental cost while using 3/5

of energy (Food Miles Comparative

Energy/Emissions Performance of

New Zealand’s Agriculture Industry)

Image: Fruit stand, Washington,

Sharon Palmer, RDN

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Consumer Transportation • Significant greenhouse gas

impact attributed to individual families making many small-volume shopping trips by car to transport food from retail stores to homes

• Buying local can reduce distance food must travel, yet reduced transportation emissions per vehicle can be a wash if many smaller, less efficient, vehicles used (DEFRA)

• When buying from local farmers markets, consider transportation methods used by farmer’s market vendors, most are smaller trucks, passenger vehicles, which are least efficient

Image: Basil, LA, Sharon Palmer, RDN

• Products can leave a farm and travel to and from many farmers

markets

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Consumer Transportation

82% of 30 billion food miles

associated with UK food

generated within the country, with

car transport from shop to home

accounting for 48%; air and sea

transport each amounted to less

than 1% of food miles. Worst

case scenario: UK consumer

driving 10 km to buy Kenyan

green beans emits more carbon

per bag of beans than flying them

from Kenya to UK (United

Kingdom Department for

Environment, Food and Rural

Affairs, 2005)

Image: Harrod’s, London, Sharon Palmer, RDN

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Local Food Conundrums

• Certain foods, especially

meat, dairy, red meat,

have very high carbon

footprints due to

production processes

and inputs—not

transportation

• Food miles can

discourage food from

developing countries,

producing negative

impact on livelihoods of

world’s poor (Fairtrade)

Image: Harvesting grapes, Napa Valley, Sharon Palmer, RDN

• May be impossible to get healthful

foods in certain climates, with

short growing season

• Can reduce intake of fruits,

vegetables, whole grains, nuts,

olives, citrus, herbs, spices,

coffee, tea, chocolate, grapes

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Problems with 100-mile Diet

• Cost: Locally grown organic

products/substitutes for

conventional products, in general,

cost more (often significantly more)

than conventional products

• Lack of variety: Sugar, rice,

lemon, ketchup, olive oil, peanut

butter, orange juice, and flour could

not be produced locally; in winter

only very narrow selection of

vegetables available

• Time: Time spent

acquiring/preparing food

comparable to part-time job

Image: Local hemp farm, Manitoba, Canada, Sharon Palmer, RDN

Canadian 100-mile Couple

Documented problems

(Montreal Economic

Institute)

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Agriculture is Changing • Many larger farms are becoming more

sustainable: reducing water, inputs,

tillage practices, protecting soil, wildlife

and water ways, improving efficiency

• Theory: selecting some land for

intensive, high-yielding agriculture

using modern production technologies

can help preserve wildlife habitat

elsewhere; requiring less land for

production

• Mixture of high-yield, intensive farming

and small, organic local farms may be a

good strategy (Rural Economy and

Land Use Programme)

Image: Organic kale farm, Bakersfield, CA, Sharon Palmer, RDN

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Agriculture is Changing • Farmers who take

sustainable approach work efficiently with natural processes rather than struggling against them

• Use best current knowledge/technology to avoid unintended consequences of industrial, chemical- based agriculture

• Farmers able to minimize pesticides and fertilizers, saving money, protecting future productivity, environment

• Common sustainable agriculture techniques employed by farmers today to achieve weed control, pest control, disease control, erosion control, high soil quality:

– Crop Rotation

– Cover Crops

– Soil Enrichment

– Natural Pest Predators

– Biointensive Integrated Pest Management (Rural Economy and Land Use Programme)

Image: Farm tour, Davis, Sharon Palmer, RDN

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Food Miles in Perspective

• Food miles don’t tell whole

story, but they are a spoke

in food analysis wheel

• Food miles can be used to

identify to what extent diets

depend on global markets

• They tell us not only

distance traveled but,

production location, mode

transportation, likelihood of

future food security issues

related to transportation

distance.

Image: Pike Place Market, Seattle,

Sharon Palmer, RDN

• Although food miles do not

contribute significant part of GGE

proportional to production, they

do contribute

• Food miles concept starts

discussion about distance food

must travel to feed humanity

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Taking Action

• Curb land loss due to agricultural expansion, especially for production of animal feed and biofuels

• Use innovative technologies on underproductive farms to maximize resources like water, fertilizers while reducing waste; most efficient farms can be up to 80% more productive than the least productive

• Grow more food for people, currently 40% of food grown used to feed animals

• Shifting diets away from animal based products could free up almost half current agricultural output

Image: Melon farm, Davis. CA, Sharon Palmer, RDN

60

Taking Action

• Reduce transport impacts, cleaner vehicles, improved logistics, rail freight

• Improve wider sustainability of food chain, ethical trading, improved energy efficiency in the local food sector

• Consumer awareness/labelling, public procurement, support local food initiatives

• Source food more locally where

appropriate

• Reduce car food shopping/ home

delivery, support for local and in-

town shops, provision of safe

cycle and pedestrian access

Image: Carrot farm, Bakersfield, Sharon Palmer, RDN

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What You Can Do to Reduce Food Miles

• Learn what foods are in season in

your area and try to build your diet

around them.

• Shop at a local farmers market.

• Eat minimally processed, packaged,

or marketed food.

• Ask the manager or chef of your

favorite restaurant how much of the

food on the menu is locally grown,

and then encourage him or her to

source food locally.

Image: Sharon Palmer, RDN

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What You Can Do to

Reduce Food Miles

• Consolidate trips when grocery shopping.

• Take a trip to a local farm to learn what it produces.

• Limit the amount of meat you consume, and when you do buy meat, look for organic or free range meat produced on sustainable farms.

• Produce a local food directory that lists all of the local food sources in your area.

• Buy extra quantities of your favorite

fruit or vegetable when it’s in

season and experiment with drying,

canning, jamming, or otherwise

preserving it for a later date.

• Plant a garden and grow as much

food as possible.

• Speak to your local politician about

forming a local food policy council

to help guide decisions that affect

the local foodshed.

Image: Snow peas, farmers market,

Pasadena, Sharon Palmer, RDN

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Home Gardening:

The Best in Local Foods

• 35% all households in America

(42 million) growing food at

home or in community garden,

up 17% in five years

• Largest increases in

participation seen among

younger households, up 63% to

13 million since 2008

• 2 million more households

community gardening, up 200%

since 2008

• Replacing landscaping, trees

Image: Vegetable garden, Sharon Palmer, RDN

(National Gardening Association)

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Local Food Resources:

Food Miles Tools

Food Carbon Footprint Calculator - tool

for UK residents to calculate food carbon

footprint to better understand

http://www.foodcarbon.co.uk/

Image: Ojai local fruit, Sharon Palmer, RDN

Life Cycles Food Calculator - determines

distance/amount greenhouse gases saved if

certain food product is bought locally as

opposed to imported

http://www.foodemissions.com/foodemission

s/Calculator.aspx

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Local Food Resources:

Food Miles Tools

LCA Food Database - tool for acquiring an

aggregated description of emissions, waste,

and resource use from soil to kitchen per

unit of different food items

http://www.lcafood.dk/

Iowa Produce Market Potential Calculator –

designed to help users determine expanding

markets in Iowa if consumers ate more locally

grown fresh fruits and vegetables rather than

produce from conventional sources outside

state

http://www.intrans.iastate.edu/marketplanner/

Image: Grape fields, Willamette Valley, OR, Sharon Palmer, RDN

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Thank You!

Sharon Palmer, RDN,

The Plant-Powered Dietitian

Email: info@sharonpalmer.com

www.sharonpalmer.com

Follow me!

Twitter: @SharonPalmerRD

Facebook: SharonPalmer: The Plant-Powered Dietitian

Pinterest: SharonPalmerRD

Instagram: @sharonpalmerrd

Join the Dietitian Food Revolution:

facebook.com/DietitianFoodRevolution/

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Credit Claiming

You must complete a brief evaluation of the program in order to

obtain your certificate. The evaluation will be available for 1 year;

you do not have to complete it today.

Credit Claiming Instructions:

1. Log in to www.CE.TodaysDietitian.com, go to “My Courses”

and click on the webinar title.

2. Click “Take Course” on the webinar description page.

3. Select “Start/Resume Course” to complete and submit the

evaluation.

4. Download and print your certificate.