When we cannot see everything, we see nothing
The distance between the production site and the consumption site is not necessarily a significant factor in the environmental footprint of imported fruits and vegetables.
The environmental impact of fruits and vegetables is mainly linked to their cultivation and production conditions. Transport does not usually account for a major part of their environmental impact (except in the case of exotic fruits, especially when they are transported by plane).
Tomato production requires a large amount of water, between 30 and 50 litres per fruit. In summer, Spain faces severe water scarcity...which is not the case of France or Belgium.
This difference is very important because water is a critical resource. Glimpact's method to assess the environmental impact of products is based on the EC PEF method. It takes into account the water scarcity depending on the region of the world where it is consumed. Indeed, 1 litre of water is necessarily more precious in an arid region rather than in a humid region.
With similar agricultural practices, Belgian or French tomatoes will have significantly less impact than Spanish tomatoes.
Thus, if you are in Spain in summer and you want to eat tomatoes, it is better to choose tomatoes grown in France or Belgium.
The conclusions drawn here are based on average results for comparable varieties and conditions.
In general, it is considered that eating local food is important to reduce one's environmental footprint. But this is a common misconception that is often incorrect. To have a global vision of the environmental impact, all environmental impacts must be considered, especially when it comes to fruit and vegetables.
According to the PEF method adopted by the EC, the environmental impact should take into account 16 impact categories. It is defined by a score that aggregates the different results obtained for each impact by normalisation and weighting. This score is expressed in points (Pt) on a continuous scale, it allows products to be compared with each other.
Comparing the overall environmental impact of one kilogram of tomatoes grown in unheated greenhouses in France, Belgium and Spain, the tomatoes grown in Spain has significantly more impact than tomatoes grown in France or Belgium. To understand the difference, it is necessary to consider the distribution of the impact among the life cycle phases. In the case of tomatoes, more than 80% of the impact comes from the agricultural production phase.
The following chart highlights the different impact factors in the production phase of tomatoes grown in unheated greenhouses in Spain, France and Belgium. It appears that water consumption causes disparities.
Water use contributes to increasing the environmental footprint of Spanish tomatoes. It accounts for 1,3 % of the overall impact of Belgian tomatoes whereas it weights 6,2 % of French tomatoes' impact and 43,8 % of the impact of Spanish tomatoes.All three produced under the same conditions!
The EF -Water Use indicator used in the PEF method is expressed in m3 of world water equivalent. This indicator gives a scarcity value to water and allows to take into account the impact of its consumption on the surrounding ecosystem!
Thus, from an environmental point of view, 1 m3 of water consumed in Spain will be 56 times more impactful than 1 m3 of water consumed in Belgium and 11 times more impactful than 1 m3 of water consumed in France.
We will now consider the impact of transporting the products from their country of production to Spain.
The distances are assumed to be 1315 km from Belgium to Madrid, 1050 km from France to Madrid and 200 km for the Spanish tomatoes from the production site toMadrid. In each case, 10% transport losses were taken into account.
Even with transport to Spain, Belgian and French tomatoes have a lower impact than Spanish tomatoes. Transport accounts for 11% of Belgian tomatoes impact and for only 9% of French.
In Spain, tomatoes grown in local greenhouses will have a greater impact than Belgian or French tomatoes cultivated under the same conditions and transported by truck ; the difference in impact is about 20%.
Finally, the distance between consumer and producer is not always the key to low environmental impact.
The environmental impact calculated does not take into account the use phase (refrigerated storage of the consumer, cooking, washing of utensils and dishes required for preparation). The results were reported per kilogram of tomatoes.
