Reducing food miles seems a sensible and straightforward way to cut carbon emissions. But digging into the science shows it's not that simple, says James Wong

THE popular narrative with food is simple: “eating local” is one of the best ways to shrink your carbon footprint. This is because food miles are a handy proxy for overall sustainability, as transporting harvests across the planet is a key driver of carbon emissions. It is a story that is as pervasive in the foodie media as it is intuitively plausible, but how reliable is it?

Well, it is indeed true that the food sector uses a lot of energy, contributing 20 to 30 per cent of all greenhouse gases. But how much of this is directly down …