Food miles
The distance a unit mass of a food travels from where it is produced to where it is eaten is called its food mile value. The food miles of a meal change with the amount of each food we eat and where it was produced.
For example, the food miles of some breakfasts for you, living in Kurunegala, can be worked out like this:
Meal 1
| Food | Food miles | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Red rice | 1 | Rice from your own paddy |
| Potato curry | 100 | Potatoes from Welimada |
| Coconut | 0 | From trees in your garden |
| Eggs | 10 | From a local poultry farm |
| Total | 111 |
Meal 2
| Food | Food miles | Source |
|---|---|---|
| String hoppers of rice flour | 85 | Rice from Polonnaruwa |
| Dhal curry | 925 | Dhal from Mysore, India |
| Coconut | 0 | From trees in your garden |
| Coconut sambol | 185 | Chillies from Jaffna |
| Total | 1195 |
Meal 3
| Food | Food miles | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Bread | 9340 | Flour from American wheat |
| Fish curry | 44 | Fish from Negombo |
| Coconut | 0 | From trees in your garden |
| Coconut sambol | 800 | Chillies from Chennai, India |
| Total | 10184 |
The shorter the food miles of our food, the more sustainable and environment-friendly it is. So we should work to shorten the food mile value of the food we eat.
Why distance matters
Every mile a food travels burns fuel in a ship, a lorry or a plane, adding to its carbon footprint; long journeys also need more packaging and refrigeration. Meal 3 is about ninety times meal 1, almost all because of imported wheat — and it is no more nourishing. Eating food grown nearby, in season, supports local farmers and keeps money in the country as well.
Shorter is greener
Food miles measure how far food travels to reach us; the shorter the distance, the more sustainable the meal.