DISTANCES travelled by aircraft and lorries delivering to supermarkets and restaurants have increased so much that carbon emissions are now at record levels, it was revealed yesterday.

A combination of road and air “food miles” generated nearly 18,000 kilotonnes (18 million tonnes) of carbon dioxide in 2004, up 6 per cent on the previous year.

The statistics, released by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, came after a 15 per cent rise in emissions over the decade to 2002.

Environmental groups have blamed the Government’s failure to tackle emissions by the food industry while some experts in climate change have pointed to a lack of will within the retail sector, which is under pressure to provide fresh, exotic produce for the consumer all year round.

Jermana Canzi, the senior climate campaigner for Friends of the Earth, said: “We believe that the Government needs to do more to meet its climate change target. It has definitely neglected the growth of emissions for the food transport sector.”

HGVs clocked up 8,986 million food kilometres (5,583 million miles) on British roads or travelling from overseas in 2004, according to Defra.

While air transport accounted for only 0.1 per cent of total food kilometres in 2004, it generated 13 per cent of carbon dioxide emissions from food transport.

In the 12 years to 2004, air freight underwent the highest growth rate of all types of food transport, when food kilometres by air nearly trebled.

The food industry was told in April to cut its carbon emissions, when Defra launched its Food Industry Sustainability Strategy.

Ministers urged retailers to cut journey lengths and concentrate on the market for locally sourced goods. The Government wants the food and drink industry to reduce carbon emissions by 20 per cent within four years.

Excluding transport, the food and drink sector accounted for 11 per cent of Britain’s energy consumption in 2002.

Leading supermarkets insist that they are doing their utmost to reduce their food miles. A spokesman for Sainsbury’s said: “We are making significant progress to address this issue. The mileage our lorries make has reduced by 5 per cent in the past year.”

A spokeswoman for Tesco added: “Over the past couple of years, we have reduced the miles travelled by suppliers to our distribution centres by 23 per cent and reduced fuel usage by 14 per cent. We are also investing in alternatives to road transport such as rail freight.

“To ensure availability all year round we do import some fresh produce. Where we do, we use sea rather than air freight wherever possible — less than 3 per cent of our total imports are brought in by air.”

“It is early days,” a Defra spokeswoman said. “We are continuing to work closely with the food industry to help to decrease the impact that it has on the environment.”

Ministers admitted in March that Britain is likely to miss its target to cut carbon dioxide emissions by a fifth by 2010, a much more ambitious commitment than the Kyoto Protocol.

Chris Huhne, environment spokesman for the Liberal Democrats, said: “Our own research has revealed that supermarket lorries travel the equivalent of almost four return trips to the Moon every day. This highlights the need for government action to encourage them to use more local suppliers.

“Supermarkets are a major part of our communities. With one supermarket for every 10,000 people, the big chains have a duty to provide environmentally friendly alternatives by supporting local producers.”

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