Comparative Merits of Consuming Vegetables Produced Locally and Overseas

Project Status: Ongoing
Type of Project: Research Project
Principal Investigator: Prof Gareth Edwards-Jones, University of Wales, Bangor (Email)
Website

 

Objectives

The project will consider the advantages and disadvantages of consuming locally produced fruit and vegetables as opposed to fruit and vegetables produced overseas. It will seek to achieve this by considering a range of relevant factors: greenhouse emissions, local employment, consumer perception of relevant attributes, nutritional quality of produce and community characteristics relating to local food cultures. Environmental work will consider total contribution of greenhouse gases from production and transport of vegetables from farms in UK, Spain and Uganda. This will be measured both with standard flux boxes and a novel remote sensing technique. Life Cycle Analysis will be used to collate all relevant information from this work. Nutritional quality of fresh produce will be compared with those stored in chilled and modified atmospheres. Consumer perceptions of fruit and vegetables and the relative importance of attributes such as health benefits and place of origin will be assessed by Discrete Choice Modelling. Community and social issues will be explored in case study areas, with particular attention being paid to the sociological importance of local food cultures. A case study of the Isle of Anglesey will seek to bring all these data together in a Geographical Information System in order to assess the overall impacts of switching from existing land uses to a landscape aimed at maximising vegetable production.

Publications


Journal Articles
Cross P. A. and Edwards-Jones, G (in press) Variation in pesticide hazard from arable crop production in Great Britain from 1992 to 2002: pesticide risk indices and policy analysis, Crop Protection.

Cross, P. and Edwards-Jones, G. (2006) ‘Variation in pesticide hazard from vegetable production in Great Britain from 1991 to 2003’. Pest Management Science, 62(11):1058-1064.

Edwards-Jones, G. (2006) ‘Good Food’ Editorial The Economist, December 9th.

Edwards-Jones, G. (2006) ‘Voting with your trolley’ Special Report The Economist, December 9th

Milà i Canals, L.( 2007)  “Editorial: Land Use in LCA : A new Subject Area and Call for Papers” Int J Life Cycle Ass 12(1) 1.

Milà i Canals, L., Bauer, C., Depestele, J., Dubreuil, A., Freiermuth Knuchel, R., Gaillard, G., Michelsen, O., Müller-Wenk, R. and Rydgren, B. (2007) “Key elements in a framework for land use impact assessment in LCA". Int J Life Cycle Ass 12(1) 5-15.

Milà i Canals, L., Cowell, SJ., Sim, S. and Basson, L. (2007) “Comparing Domestic versus Imported Apples: A Focus on Energy Use”. Environ Sci Pollut R 14(5) 338-344.

Milà i Canals, L., Müller-Wenk, R., Bauer, C., Depestele, J., Dubreuil, A., Freiermuth Knuchel, R., Gaillard, G., Michelsen, O., and Rydgren, B. (2007) “Letters to the Editor: Response to Helias Udo de Haes” Int J Life Cycle Ass 12(1) 2-4.

Milà i Canals, L., Romanyà, J., and Cowell, S.J. (2007) “Method for assessing impacts on life support functions (LSF) related to the use of ‘fertile land’ in Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)” J Clean Prod 15 1426-1440.

Books, Book Chapters and Conference Proceedings
Milà i Canals L. and Sim S. (2007) “How much carbon for an apple? The carbon footprint of fruit production” The 64th National Fruit Show 2007. Handbook, pp. 24-27.

Truninger, M. (2007) “The Taste Culture Reader – Experiencing food and drink” (ed. by Carolyn Korsmeiyer). International Sociology Review of Books, Vol. 22, No. 2, pp. 235-238.

Conference Papers and Presentations

Macdonald, D.W., Strachan, R., Dutton, A. and Edwards-Jones, G. (2005) “Ecological and social challenges to biodiversity conservation on farmland: a test case of reconnecting water vole habitat on a landscape scale” Presentation to the Mammal Society’s Autumn Symposium on Wild Mammals and the Human Food Chain, November 2005, London Zoo.

Edwards-Jones, G. (2005) "Assessment of environmental, community & nutritional impacts of consuming fruit and vegetables produced locally and overseas" Presentation to RELU conference Rural Economy and Land Use: The Challenge for Research 19-21 Jan 2005, Birmingham.
http://www.relu.ac.uk/events/Jan05/Presentations/p4 Hounsome.PDF

Edwards-Jones, G. (2005) "Comparative assessment of environmental, community and nutritional impacts of consuming fruit and vegetables produced locally and overseas" Presentation to RELU Food Chain Forum, February 2005, London.

Edwards-Jones, G. (2005) "Comparative assessment of environmental, community and nutritional impacts of consuming fruit and vegetables produced locally and overseas" Presentation to Welsh Health Economics Group, May 2005.

Edwards-Jones, G (2005) "People - consumers, economics, communities" Presentation to RELU conference Rural Economy and Land Use: The Challenge for Research 19-21 Jan 2005, Birmingham.
http://www.relu.ac.uk/events/Jan05/Presentations/p5 EdwardsJones.PDF

Day, G. and Truninger, M. (2006) “The contribution of local food cultures to rural development”. Presentation to RELU/AWM Workshop on Sustainable Food Chains and Rural and Regional Development, Birmingham, 11 May.

Edwards-Jones, G., Hounsome, B. and Cross, P. (2006) “Rural health and the future of farming”. Presentation to Organic farming – more farmer friendly? Conference Llanelwedd, Builth Wells, October.

Edwards-Jones, G. (2006) “Food ethics: it’s more than the mileage” Keynote Address at Rural Economy and Land Use: Enabling Knowledge Exchange, University of Manchester, 18-20 January.

Ivashikina, N., Grail, B. and Tomos, D. (2006) “Application of TiO2 MALDI-TOF-MS for plant metabolome analysis”. Presentation to Mass Spectrometry Workshop, University of Wales, Bangor, 21 July.

Ivashikina, N., Grail, B. and Tomos, D. (2006) “Nutritional quality of vegetables studied using FT-ICR-MS” Presentation to Mass Spectrometry Workshop, University of Wales, Bangor, 21 July.

Ivashikina, N., Grail, B. and Tomos, D. (2006) “Nutritional quality of vegetables studied using FT-ICR-MS”. Presentation to Bruker User Meeting, Coventry, UK, 6-7 September.

Ivashikina, N., Kemp, H., Al-Zubaidi, K., Burrell, M., Clench, M., Croft, A.K., Grail, B.M. and Tomos, A.D. (2006) “Use of an inorganic matrix MALDI-TOF for metabolite analysis” Presentation to Annual Symposium of Plant Science Wales, Bangor, 5-6 January.

Milà I Canals, L., Cowell, S.J., Hospido, A., Jones, D., Koerber, G., Cross, P.A., Hounsome B. and Edwards-Jones, G. (2006) “LCA of horticultural crops including impacts on soil quality and pesticide rating”. Presentation to 16th SETAC (Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry) Europe Annual Meeting. The Hague, The Netherlands, 7-11 May.

Tomos, D., Ivashikina, N., Moritsuka, N., et al. (2006) “Sampling cells and soils in picolitre volumes using glass micropipettes and their subsequent analysis” Presentation to Society for Experimental Biology Annual Meeting, Canterbury, UK, 2-7 April. [Abstract Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology V 143A, N4, S121.]

Truninger, M., and Day, G. (2006) “Investigating the ‘local’ in food consumption habits”. Presentation to 3rd Annual Colloquium of Welsh Network of Development Researchers, Gregynog, Wales, 25th-27th January.

Truninger, M., and Day, G. (2006) “Investigating the ‘local’ in food consumption habits”. Presentation to Joint Annual Meeting of the Association for the Study of Food and Society (ASFS) and the Agriculture, Food and Human Values Society (AFHVS), Boston, USA, 7th-11th June.

Brandão, M., Clift. R. and Milà i Canals, L. (2007) “Food or energy? Towards sustainable land use – a life cycle approach for the assessment of the carbon intensity of land use for food and bioenergy in the UK.  Abstract Book. Industrial Ecology for a Sustainable Future”. Presentation to4th International Conference of the International Society for Industrial Ecology, ISIE . Toronto ( Canada ) 17-20 June.

Cross, P. A., Edwards-Jones, G. and Edwards, R. T. (2007) “Does farm worker health differ between conventional and organic horticultural systems?”. Proceedings of the XVI International Plant Protection Congress, 130-131.

Day, G.  and Truninger. M. (2007) Eating locally: a comparative regional study, Presentation to 'Local food and rural development. Does it work here and overseas?', Science Week, St Asaph Business Park, St. Asaph, North Wales, 13th March.

Day, G. and Truninger, M. (2007) “Place, food and belonging: a comparative investigation of local food cultures in three rural areas of the United Kingdom” Presentation to XXII Congress of the European Society for Rural Sociology, 20-24 August, Wageningen.

Day, G. and Truninger, M. (2007) “Showing the ‘local’: image and text in the representation of local food” Presentation to FEAST Festival, Bangor University, 22-23 November.

Edwards-Jones, E. (2007) “Would changing our eating habits save the planet?” Presentation to Relu Conference “Unlocking change in the food chain”, London, 7 November.

Edwards-Jones, G. (2007)  “Comparative advantages of growing vegetables at home and overseas”  Presentation toThe National Vegetable Conference, Rutland. December.

Edwards-Jones, G. (2007) “Should consumers be allowed to make their own food choices?”  Relu Debates on Power and Responsibility: Who Decides: You Decide, Royal Academy of Engineering, London. March.

Edwards-Jones, G. et al. (2007)  “Practical lessons from counting carbon in sheep and horticultural enterprises”  Presentation to British Institute of Agricultural Consultants, Annual Conference, Coventry November.

Edwards-Jones, G., Koerber, G., York, E. and Mila I Canals L. (2007)  “Identifying and managing emissions from farms and food chains”  Presentation to The Carbon Summit.  24-25 May.

Milà i Canals L , Hospido A , Clift R, Truninger M, Hounsome B. and Edwards-Jones G. (2007) Environmental effects and consumer considerations of winter consumption of lettuce in the UK. 5th International Conference LCA in Foods. Book of Proceedings . Pp. 47-52. SIK, Gothenburg ( Sweden ) 25-26 April 2007.

Milà i Canals, L., Cowell, S.J., Sim, S. and Basson, L. (2007) “Effects of seasonality and variability in energy consumption data on a comparison of local vs. imported apples”. Presentation to 17th SETAC Europe Annual Meeting. Abstract Book. Porto, Portugal, 20-24 May, p.142.

Milà i Canals, L., Koerber, G.R., Brandão, M., York, E.H., Clift, R., Jones, D.L. and Edwards-Jones, G. (2007) “Contribution of soil emissions to the impacts of horticulture: comparison of literature estimates with field measurements”. Presentation to 17th SETAC Europe Annual Meeting. Abstract book. Porto, Portugal, 20-24 May, p. 143.

Milà i Canals, L., Koerber. G.R., Brandão, M., York, E.H., Clift, R., Jones, D,L,, Cowell, S,J. and Edwards-Jones, G. (2007) “Impacts on soil quality in the LCA of horticultural crops”. Presentation to 17th SETAC Europe Annual Meeting. Abstract Book.  Porto, Portugal, 20-24 May 2007, p.148.

Truninger, M. and Day, G. (2007) “Eating locally: a comparative study of three British rural areas”. Presentation to 8th Conference of the European Sociological Association, Glasgow, UK, 3rd-6th September.

Working Papers and Briefing Papers
Milà i Canals L, Muñoz I, McLaren SJ. 2007. ”LCA methodology and modelling considerations for vegetable production and consumption” CES Working Papers 02/07 Available from http://www.surrey.ac.uk/CES

Muñoz I, Milà i Canals L, Clift R. and Doka G. (2007) “A simple model to include human excretion and wastewater treatment in life cycle assessment of food products”. CES Working Papers 01/07 Available from http://www.surrey.ac.uk/CES