Challenge description

The food system has a huge climate impact – it is estimated that it contributes to 30% of global carbon emissions.

We all eat, and a lot of energy goes into getting food onto our plates – creating emissions along the way in the highly mechanised processes and complex global supply chains associated with the conventional food system.

The climate impact of food, however, is not only related to production and distribution – but to how much and what we consume, and how we dispose of food. It is estimated that we waste a third of all the food we produce.

We face huge challenges in New Zealand and the world around reducing the emissions associated with the food system. In New Zealand agriculture is estimated to contribute to nearly half of all emissions due to factors including the methane produced by ruminants such as dairy cows. We do not see this reflected in Wellington’s carbon footprint as by and large, food is not produced within the city’s boundaries. However we are a city of over 200 000 people who eat, and as consumers we drive demand for certain kinds of food over other kinds.

Local food movements (Local Food Week is an example here in Wellington) have sought to promote local, seasonal food and shorten supply chains. A note of caution, however, is that the local food option is not always the lowest emission option (for example wheat doesn’t grow particularly well in the greater Wellington area) - nor is it always the healthiest.

Challenge vision

We’d like to leave you with some key challenges and opportunities for Wellington to not only address the climate impact of the food system, but to make the most of climate change mitigation efforts.

• Are we doing enough to address overconsumption and the carbon footprint of our diet?
• What is the potential for expanding local food production through urban farming in Wellington?
• As the population in our City grows and intensifies, what can we do to make the best use of land available for growing – and embed food sustainability in our City?
• Are there opportunities enhance the sustainability of our food systems through climate change mitigation efforts – for example to include edibles in “green” infrastructure and water sensitive design to cool our city and make it more resilient?
• How could our food supply chains be more carefully designed – to reduce our carbon footprint and increase sustainability?
• Could we do more to increase our rates of food rescue and recovery?

To take you further, here are some links that are packed with great insights and information.

• http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/9/6/064025/meta - an analysis of which cities might be best suited to urban agriculture
• A good summary of how a city's food system changed & what they did about it https://bristolfoodpolicycouncil.org/who-feeds-bristol/
• Discussion about what some city regions have done around the world re sustainable foodhttp://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/latenightlive/urban-farming/9470418
• An analysis of the global challenges associated with the food system https://soundcloud.com/yaleuniversity/eric-holt-gimenez-the-global