Are Short Food Supply Chains More Environmentally Sustainable than Long Chains? A Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of the Eco-Efficiency of Food Chains in Selected EU Countries

Edward Majewski, Anna Komerska, Jerzy Kwiatkowski, Agata Malak-Rawlikowska, Adam Wąs, Piotr Sulewski, Marlena Gołaś, Kinga Pogodzińska, Jean-Loup Lecoeur, Barbara Tocco, Aron Torok, Michele Donati and Gunnar Vittersø
Additional contact information
Edward Majewski: Institute of Economics and Finance, Warsaw University of Life Sciences—SGGW, 02-787 Warsaw, Poland
Anna Komerska: Faculty of Building Services, Hydro and Environmental Engineering, Warsaw University of Technology, 00-653 Warsaw, Poland
Jerzy Kwiatkowski: Faculty of Building Services, Hydro and Environmental Engineering, Warsaw University of Technology, 00-653 Warsaw, Poland
Agata Malak-Rawlikowska: Institute of Economics and Finance, Warsaw University of Life Sciences—SGGW, 02-787 Warsaw, Poland
Adam Wąs: Institute of Economics and Finance, Warsaw University of Life Sciences—SGGW, 02-787 Warsaw, Poland
Piotr Sulewski: Institute of Economics and Finance, Warsaw University of Life Sciences—SGGW, 02-787 Warsaw, Poland
Marlena Gołaś: Institute of Economics and Finance, Warsaw University of Life Sciences—SGGW, 02-787 Warsaw, Poland
Kinga Pogodzińska: Institute of Economics and Finance, Warsaw University of Life Sciences—SGGW, 02-787 Warsaw, Poland
Jean-Loup Lecoeur: CESAER, AgroSup Dijon, INRA, University Bourgogne Franche-Comté, F-21000 Dijon, France
Michele Donati: Department of Economics and Management, Università degli Studi di Parma, 43125 Parma, Italy
Gunnar Vittersø: SIFO Consumption Research Norway, Oslo Metropolitan University, 0130 Oslo, Norway

Energies, 2020, vol. 13, issue 18, 1-26

Abstract: Improving the eco-efficiency of food systems is one of the major global challenges faced by the modern world. Short food supply chains (SFSCs) are commonly regarded to be less harmful to the environment, among various reasons, due to their organizational distribution and thus the shortened physical distance between primary producers and final consumers. In this paper, we empirically test this hypothesis, by assessing and comparing the environmental impacts of short and long food supply chains. Based on the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) approach, we calculate eco-efficiency indicators for nine types of food distribution chains. The analysis is performed on a sample of 428 short and long food supply chains from six European countries. Our results indicate that, on average, long food supply chains may generate less negative environmental impacts than short chains (in terms of fossil fuel energy consumption, pollution, and GHG emissions) per kg of a given product. The values of eco-efficiency indicators display a large variability across analyzed chains, and especially across different types of SFSCs. The analysis shows that the environmental impacts of the food distribution process are not only determined by the geographical distance between producer and consumer, but depend on numerous factors, including the supply chain infrastructure.

Keywords: eco-efficiency; environmental impact; GHG emissions; energy consumption; food chain; short food supply chains (SFSCs); Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (11)

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