Local food delivery
Consumers, producers and local communities are showing increasing interest in local food distribution systems (LFS) because they are seen as contributing to the three interrelated dimensions of sustainable development: social, economic and environmental. However, some recent studies strongly question the environmental benefits of LFS in terms of energy efficiency. These same research papers use schematic simulations and analysis to demonstrate that methods of transport have a greater influence than the food miles travelled. They also argue that, due to economies of scale, better energy efficiency is achieved through mass distribution of industrial products. From measurements made in a variety of local food systems that deliver fruit and vegetable boxes, our own analysis shows that the energy efficiency of these local distribution systems is in fact comparable with those used for mass distribution. Furthermore, the food delivery systems we studied are characterized by local level or small-scale delivery networks, neither of which are taken into account in studies based on averages that ignore real everyday spatial practices of producers and consumers.