According to Richard Woods, Times Online (UK), Feb. 3: Scientists are refining the “eat local” message to take more GHG emission factors into account. While we wait for the development of LCA (life cycle analysis) data, some familiar rules still hold true: Eat less meat; no air-freighted food; reduce waste; make compost; reduce packaging. Most GHGs are emitted in food production (especially true for meat). Bulk transport by land or sea is of much lower overall significance.
Late update (March 14): I’m a little skeptical of these messages in the press, wondering where they originate. Just recently read a comparison posted by a southwest Virginia farmer who calculated that his pickup-truck-to-local-market transport operation was 32 times more efficient than the typical tractor-trailer-to-supermarket system. See http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/07/AR2008030702520_pf.html
