Publication Date:
2022-02-18
Description:
The main focus of this paper is on freight transportation and food supply in the United States and in Europe especially in Germany. Organic, resp. healthy and safe food is a growing demand in both countries. People who consume organic food often believe that this contributes to an environmentally sound behaviour. But transportation issues are not or rarely taken into consideration so far, although long distance transport not only needs energy, it as well influences quality, freshness and taste of food. On both sides of the Atlantic, in freight transportation and food supply can be found a lot of differences as well as similarities. Main differences to the U.S. from the European standpoint are e.g. the bigger land area and larger and much more concentrated economic units. Quite naturally one can find a higher volume of long distance freight transport than in Europe. Similarities can be observed, but very often they present themselves in another extent, e.g. the trend towards privatisation and liberalisation, to more extended suburbanisation or to an unreflected way of consumer behaviour. In addition, this report raises some new questions: is the ’technological solution’ of environmental problems the only way? What can be done to include lifestyles and consumer behaviour into a new strategy?
Keywords:
ddc:380
Repository Name:
Wuppertal Institut für Klima, Umwelt, Energie
Language:
English
Type:
workingpaper
,
doc-type:workingPaper
Format:
application/pdf
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