Food miles – how far has my lunch travelled?

1.  From the list in the article work out which food travelled the farthest. Where do you think it came from?

2.  Find the “mean” average distance travelled by the all the foods listed in the article. Explain your working.

3.  Find the “median” average distance travelled. Explain your working.

4.  Why are the mean and median so different?

5.  Find the mean and median distance travelled by food type:

Food type / Mean / Median
Fruit and vegetables
Meat and Protein Products
(Beef, chicken, eggs, sausages)
Diary Foods
(milk, cheese)
Grains
(bread, cereal, rice, rolled oats)
Processed foods

6.  On average which food type travels the furthest? Give reasons why this may be the case. What other conclusions can you make?

7.  The average Australian shopping basket in the article was based in Melbourne. If the “food miles” were measured to your town how do you think the averages would be affected? Explain.

8.  Now list what you eat for lunch and estimate the typical food miles travelled for each item.

9.  Draw a bar graph to show the distance travelled by the different foods in your lunch box.

10.  What is the total distance travelled by your lunch?

11.  What other conclusions can you draw from your graph? What information might you need to work out your carbon footprint from just eating lunch?

12. From the article, how many kilometres do the 29 average household staples travel?

13. How many of these kilometres are by road? What other ways would the food be transported?

14.“The greenhouse gas generated on any given day is the equivalent of 2830 cars driven for an entire year”

What does this statement mean?

15. Write an article to the local newspaper expressing your concerns about the greenhouse gases generated delivering our food. Support your argument by including some of the averages you have calculated. Make suggestions how consumers might reduce their carbon footprint.