When is ‘local’ truly local? An analysis of (un)sustainable food choices through a contextualized life-cycle assessment

From production to consumption, foods have historically shaped human societies through agricultural production and the green revolution and continue to do so. In the past years, the sustainability of food products and the agro-food industry has been increasingly focused upon. On the demand side, consumers become aware of the ecological, social, and economic impact of their food choices, potentially altering their purchase decisions toward sustainably sourced products. On the supply side, producers respond by minimizing agrochemical inputs and applying environmentally and socially conscious practices across the value chain, improving resource and energy efficiency. Popular media easily come forward with bold statements and generalized assumptions, while the underlying facts and figures are often weak and unnuanced. Sustainability claims are often vague and little evidenced, causing consumer confusion and generating criticism over greenwashing. What is especially missing is context-specific statements that focus on the specificities and circumstances under which foods are produced, transported, distributed, and consumed. While context myopia is characteristic of modern society and not limited to foods, opinions about food are often formulated in a strong and one-sided way. This is the outcome of the intimate relationship between humans and food – after all, we ingest foods several times a day. This research aims to develop a framework that helps researchers and practitioners alike to reflect on the sustainability of foods more rigorously. We utilize practical approaches to quantify the sustainability of our foods. Life-cycle assessments (LCA) are a prominent methodological tool in the literature that is widely applied in the industry as well. LCA is an exact sciences research method that evaluates the environmental impact of a commercial product over its entire life. With its origins in materials and packaging studies, LCA has traversed the food industry to understand the ecological footprint of food choices with the potential to influence decision-making towards less environmentally harmful alternatives. We hypothesize that this isolated yet classical approach is insufficient to bring LCA applications to their full potential, especially regarding value-laden food choices. Hence, we aim to not only conduct dedicated LCA's on selected food products but also to contextualize existing LCA’s, including values underlying sustainability aspects, animal welfare, and economic viability, for instance. This research project focuses on typical options raising at consumer level, particularly the choice between local versus non-local food products. Local food products are compared with non-local food products cultivated farther away, such as regionally or internationally imported food items. It further critically analyses and reflects upon definitions of ‘local’, unearthing consumer perceptions of locally produced foodstuffs and juxtaposing these with the origin of inputs to provide a nuanced analysis.