Categories: News

New study shows local beef has a higher carbon footprint than imported produce

Bloomberg reports on a new study from the University of Oxford which determined that locally grown beef has a higher carbon footprint than imported produce. Using data from 38,000 farms in 119 countries, the researchers found that food transport leads to a relatively minor level of climate damage compared to, say, methane from cows. This, of course, obscures other net gains from eating local and supporting sustainable farms—and has some segments of Twitter up in arms. But this incendiary quote from one of the study’s researchers captures it best: “Eating local” is “one of the most misguided pieces of advice.”

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