Why Local Matters
The food on your plate has a story.
Most of the time, it’s a story of thousands of miles, refrigerated lorries, and container ships. It doesn’t have to be.
The distance problem
The average food item in a UK supermarket has travelled over 1,500 miles to reach the shelf. Some categories are far worse. Supermarket lamb averages around 3,200 miles, driven by imports from New Zealand. Wine travels around 3,500 miles. Even products we grow perfectly well in the UK — like apples — average 3,000 miles in supermarkets because of year-round imports from South Africa, New Zealand, and Chile.
These distances generate significant carbon emissions from refrigerated transport by road, sea, and air. Food transport accounts for around 19% of total food-system emissions globally — a figure that’s 3.5 to 7.5 times higher than previously estimated, according to a 2022 study published in Nature Food.
The local alternative
Within 20 miles of most UK postcodes, there are independent producers making exceptional food and drink. Cheesemakers, bakers, brewers, farmers, beekeepers, sauce makers, and growers — many of whom have been perfecting their craft for generations. Their products haven’t crossed oceans or sat in distribution centres. They’ve travelled from the farm, the dairy, or the kitchen to you.
Your local cheesemaker at 8 miles versus the supermarket average of 350 miles. Your local honey producer at 6 miles versus the import average of 2,200 miles. Every local purchase is a measurable reduction in food transport emissions.
It’s not just about miles
Buying local creates ripple effects that go far beyond reducing transport emissions.
Transparency
Knowing the person who made your food, understanding their methods, and being able to visit the place it came from. No hidden supply chains, no anonymous factories.
Quality
Fresher produce picked at the right time rather than engineered for long-distance travel. Flavour that comes from craft and care, not from preservatives and packaging.
Community
Keeping money circulating in local economies rather than flowing to multinational supply chains. Supporting the people and businesses that make your area distinctive.
Variety
Rediscovering regional specialities, heritage breeds, and seasonal flavours that supermarkets have homogenised away. Food with character and provenance.
The honest picture
We should be upfront: food miles are one useful indicator, not the complete story. Production methods, transport mode, refrigeration, packaging, and even the season all affect the true environmental footprint of food.
A tomato grown in a heated UK greenhouse in January may have a higher carbon footprint than one shipped from Spain where it grew in natural sunlight. We present food miles as a powerful directional indicator that encourages consumers to think about supply chains — not as the definitive measure of environmental impact.
We also recognise that not everything can be produced locally. Coffee, tea, spices, chocolate, and citrus fruit will always travel long distances. But where local alternatives exist — and they exist for far more products than most people realise — choosing them makes a real, measurable difference.
Want to see the maths?
Our food miles benchmarks are built from DEFRA, HMRC, and AHDB data. We’ve documented our full methodology, including worked examples.
How We Calculate Food Miles →See what’s near you
Enter your postcode and discover the independent food and drink producers within 20 miles of your door. You might be surprised how many there are.
Find Local Producers →