The frozen shrimp prepared at the worst buffet in town have traveled more than most Americans. It’s a questionable food choice and questionable from an environmental perspective. 

A recent study from Nature Food shared how groceries create upwards of three billion metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions a year from transportation alone. This is 8% of all global emissions. Trying to measure carbon emissions from transporting food is not new, but this study accounted for all supply chains. This includes emissions from every country, not just a few. It also handles more complex trades that involve multiple countries. Their estimate is more than triple previous studies’. This number comes from the international shipping of food.

Current supply chains span countries and continents. China and the United States are separated by the largest ocean on earth, but trade between them is common. The US trades with Canada, Brazil, most of Europe, Vietnam, Thailand, South Korea, Japan, and others. Year-round cravings for seasonal vegetables like zucchini and tomatoes and tropical fruit like dragon fruit, mangos, and lychee are indulged. Trucks, ships, vans, and planes all emit greenhouse gasses as they travel thousands of miles between countries to deliver this food. As world trade increases, emissions are rising.

Take, for instance, frozen shrimp in Massachusetts. Shrimp raised in Ecuador is shipped to Shanghai (10,000 miles). The shrimp is packaged and sent to Los Angeles (6,400 miles). This is then taken by truck or train to Boston (2,900 miles). Altogether, that is over 19,000 miles for some frozen shrimp. 

These emissions are being driven by the US and other high-income countries. High-income countries represent 12.5% of the global population, but 46% of international emissions from food transportation. Having a wealthy consumer population means foods are brought from around the world to satisfy cravings for tropical fruit and out-of-season food. While these global foods are undeniably delicious, they cause an inordinate amount of harm. It does not have to be this way. 

There is still a way to get healthy, diverse, and delicious food while reducing emissions. The researchers recommend eating locally. Consumers would still get a wide variety of fruits and vegetables year-round from the area, just not the ones with high emissions. Changing to a more local diet could curb excessive greenhouse gasses. Eating food made in state would carry a lower emissions tag than shipping food across the country. 

One way to supplement this is foraging. Collecting berries, mushrooms, nuts, roots, and leaves growing in parks, backyards, and mountains would reduce emissions further. These can be found everywhere, including in cities. While wild plants are most abundant in the spring and summer, food can be foraged at any time of the year. They provide nutrition without the emissions of grocery stores. It’s also free and acts as an alternative to the highly consumerist and globalized food system currently in place. There is still a variety of new, healthy, exciting flavors to try, but it comes from where people already live. 

Reducing emissions needs to come from all over, and food consumption is a great place to start. As the researchers showed, eating local is one solution to a larger problem. Working to limit international transportation of food may be the thing the Earth needs to fight back against climate change.