The global food industry is predicated on an efficient and safe transportation and distribution system. Much has been made of the concept of “food miles” in recent years, tracking the miles food has travelled between its original source and our tables – with startling numbers appearing all too regularly. While the focus recently has been on increasing the share of “local” food we eat, many local food producers can find it challenging if there is not a food distributor who will carry their goods for some reason.
An Agricultural Urbanism project will endeavour to:
- Connect local food producers with distributors who can connect them to the market;
- Support smaller and mid-scale distributors; and
- Support the “greening” of the logistics fleets and practices.
Below are some resources on food logistics, transportation and distribution.
- Food Distribution – This is a nice several page summary with references of the basics of food transportation and distribution. http://www.jhsph.edu/research/centers-and-institutes/teaching-the-food-system/curriculum/_pdf/Distribution_and_Transport-Background.pdf
- Food Logistics – This corporate site contains a range of information on the global food supply chain. http://www.foodlogistics.com/
- Food Miles.com – This site offers a fun calculator to use to calculate the distance your food often travels and the probable carbon emissions associated with it. http://www.foodmiles.com/
- Eating Oil Report – This site, Sustain, has a lot of food related information, including this report outlining the many dimensions and implications of the global food transportation system. http://www.sustainweb.org/publications/?id=98
- Food Mile Footprints – This short article puts food miles in perspective as a relatively small part of the emissions associated with our food supply. http://shrinkthatfootprint.com/food-miles
- Alberta food logistics models – This site has an interesting short resource document on the types of food logistics models and how they work together. http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$Department/deptdocs.nsf/all/cu13700/$FILE/final-group2.pdf
- Refrigerated Transport of Canadian Agri-Food Products – This is a good report about the issues and practices of long haul refrigerated food transport (Canada to Mexico). http://www.agr.gov.sk.ca/adx/aspx/adxGetMedia.aspx?DocID=9873,9872,142,135,81,1,Documents&MediaID=4330&Filename=Mexico_Final+report_en+(2).pdf&l=English
- Reducing the carbon footprint of food transportation – This is a good academic paper looking at ways to reduce climate emissions associated with the food distribution system. http://www.cleanmetrics.com/pages/Ch9_0923.pdf