What Are Food Miles?

Food miles describe the distance food travels from its place of origin to the location where it is consumed or sold. The distance is commonly expressed in kilometres or miles and is often used to understand how far food has travelled through the supply chain.

A locally produced food may travel only a short distance before reaching the consumer, while food produced in another state or country can travel hundreds or thousands of kilometres. The distance travelled can involve movement from farms and processing facilities to distribution centres, markets, retailers and other destinations.

How Food Miles Are Calculated

The basic calculation uses the geographic locations of the food origin and destination. Once the coordinates of both locations are identified, the distance between them can be calculated using the Earth's curvature.

The calculator converts the distance into both kilometres and miles. The location names are also resolved to their corresponding locality, state or region and country so that similarly named places can be distinguished.

Geographic Distance and Actual Transport Distance

A geographic distance is not necessarily the same as the distance travelled by a food product. Roads, railways, shipping routes and air routes do not follow a straight line between two locations. Food can also pass through warehouses, processing facilities and distribution centres before reaching its final destination.

For this reason, the calculated food miles should be treated as an estimate of the geographic distance between the specified locations, rather than a record of the actual route travelled by the food.

Why Food Miles Matter

Food miles are often used as one indicator when examining the environmental impacts of food supply chains. Longer transport distances can require more movement of goods and may involve additional handling, storage and refrigeration.

However, distance alone does not determine the overall environmental impact of a food product. Production methods, transport efficiency, storage requirements, refrigeration, packaging, food waste and the type of transport used can all influence the total impact.

Food Miles and Local Food

Comparing food miles can help illustrate the difference between food sourced locally and food brought from more distant locations. A shorter distance generally means fewer kilometres between the stated origin and destination, but it does not by itself establish that one food product has a lower overall environmental impact.