Fewer Transport Miles
FDF members are committed to embedding environmental standards into their
transport practices, including their contracts with hauliers as they fall for
renewal, to achieve 'fewer and friendlier' food transport miles.
The Challenge
Few people in modern societies are self-sufficient in food and drink. It is
generally provided on a commercial scale and transported from plough to plate
within a globally competitive market. Transporting food and drink, like all
other
goods, has environmental and social impacts. Research published by Defra on
the food chain shows these overwhelmingly as the impacts of road congestion,
damage to infrastructure, and road accidents1. There are also impacts on air and noise pollution and CO2 emissions, though to a much lesser extent.
The goal is to ensure efficient food and drink distribution to meet consumer
demand. Very few food and drink manufacturers have their own transport but
contract it out to third party transport providers. Achieving ‘fewer and
friendlier’ food transport miles requires joined-up industry action.
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FDF's Ambition
FDF members are committed to a UK food chain2target to reduce the environmental and social costs of its domestic food
transportation by 20% by 2012 compared to 2002.
We will work with industry partners, including retailers and transport
providers, to deliver this ambition through collaborative projects.
In particular, FDF members are committed to embedding environmental standards
into their transport practices, including their contracts with road hauliers as
they fall for renewal, to achieve 'fewer and friendlier' food transport miles.
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Delivering Our Ambition
FDF will work with IGD's Efficient Consumer Response programme to achieve
greater transport collaboration and improved distribution across the food chain.
FDF will develop a check list of environmental criteria for use by our
members. Where they use third party road hauliers, our criteria will be
reflected
in a standard clause which we will make available to members for use in
contracts. This will ask contractors to publish a fewer and friendlier miles
manifesto and report annually on their environmental performance.
FDF will publish qualitative progress reports to complement quantitative
reporting undertaken by Defra for the food chain as a whole.
See Fewer Transport Miles Company Case Studies
Footnote 1: Reducing the external costs of the domestic transportation of food
by the food industry, Faber Maunsell, 2007 and research by AEA published in
2005.
Footnote 2: Beyond primary production, e.g. the farmgate.
Footnote 3: Proposed in the Food Industry Sustainability Strategy published by
Defra in 2006.
The information in this section is taken from a document entitled The Environment: Making a real difference (pdf, 1.4Mb) published by FDF in October 2007 .
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Last reviewed: 22 Nov 2007