History Matters
Urban sprawl, or the spread of where houses and shopping centers are built outside of a city, has reduced the amount of farmland in many areas.[] As a result, farming has decreased in urban areas. This means that certain communities do not always have access to local produce like fresh fruits and vegetables. Urban communities have increasingly relied on transporting food over long distances. In the United States, food travels an average of 1,500 miles from farms to consumers. This can increase dependence
on energy and contribute to pollution.[]
[BE88] Pirog R., Van Pelt T., Enshayan K., Cook E. (2001). Food, Fuel, and Freeways: An Iowa Perspective on How Far Food Travels, Fuel Usage, and Greenhouse Gas Emissions. Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture. https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1002&context=leopold_pubspapers