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Food and Climate Change factsheet
Information about how the way we produce and consume food affects the environment.
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The food we eat has various impacts on the world around us. Intensive farming practices using chemical fertilizers and pesticides can run off into streams and rivers, polluting the water supply. These chemicals also penetrate the soil, leeching vital nutrients and minerals and, some say, reducing the nutritional content of vegetables.  Organic farming, which does not use chemicals, is an alternative to conventional, intensive farming practices.

The fact sheets on this page provide further information about different farming techniques and a variety of other food and environment issues.

Food is also linked to climate change. The food system has developed in a way that relies heavily on importing and exporting food. There are various reasons for this: because of international trade rules it is sometimes cheaper to import certain foods, and we have also become accustomed to having all types of fruit and veg all year round. All this moving around of food clocks up thousands of ‘food miles’. Food miles is a term to define the distance our food has to travel from where it’s grown to reach our plates. You can read more about food miles and their impact on the environment by clicking here (link under construction).

The waste generated from food and food packaging has a serious impact on the environment as well. When sitting in landfill, raw food waste releases methane, a toxic gas that is said to contribute to global warming. Excess food packaging, such as plastic boxes and wrapping, also has harmful impacts on the environment. If not recycled, or unrecycleable, this packaging takes up lots of space in landfill. Producing this type of packaging also uses precious resources such as oil, and requires a lot of energy. Click here (link under construction) to read about ways to deal with food waste and to cut down on our environmental impact through recycling and composting.