Eating Oil: Food supply in a changing climate

Report contents

Summary

1. The purpose of this report

2. The contemporary food system

3. Fuelling the food system - How dependent is our food supply on non-renewable energy?

• Households eating oil
• Producing the food
• Packaging and processing the food
• Distributing the food
  • International food trade on the increase
  • Is organic food trade any better?
  • The environmental efficiency of different forms of transport
  • The problems of international freight transport
  • The national food mile
  • The shopper food mile

4. Eating oil: The risks

• Oil is a finite resource
  • The end of the ‘cheap and abundant oil’ era: consumption does lead to depletion
• Stormy weather: the evidence and impact of climate change
  • Climate change: the source of greenhouse gas emissions
  • Climate change: The consequences
• Other polluting consequences of food miles
• Accidents will happen: Seabirds eating oil
• Nutritional implications of long distance food
• Monoculture: trading out diversity, variety and food security
• Misery Miles
• Importing disease and microbial miles
• Food trade – help or hindrance to development?
  • Case Study 1: Cocoa
  • Case Study 2: Bananas
• Crude oil, food and human rights

5. A solution: Sustainable food supply chains

• Linear and circular food supply chains
  • Linear Food chains
  • Circular food production systems
• The organic food sector
• Diversify production to shorten the food chain
• Applying the proximity principle: comparing local and global sourcing

6. How do we create a sustainable food system?

• The role of government
• Complementary approaches to re-localising the food supply

7. Conclusions

8. Recommendations for action