For many people, how sustainable a food appears to depend largely on its origin. Regional products are considered particularly environmentally friendly, while imported goods are considered less sustainable. However, these estimates are surprisingly unreliable and can even contradict the actual environmental impact of the food. How can consumers assess the environmental friendliness of different products instead?
We often decide how sustainable we think a food is based on its origin: we tend to perceive regional and national products that are grown not far from where they are sold as environmentally friendly, while imported goods from other countries are usually perceived as less environmentally friendly. However, this assessment does not reflect the actual ecological balance of the food, as researchers have now discovered.
Peppers, apples and beef in the test
In order to find out how consumers in Germany perceive the environmental friendliness of various foods, the research group led by Dorothea Meyer from the Georg-August University of Göttingen surveyed around 1,000 people. Participants were asked to rate how sustainable peppers, apples and beef are without an indication of origin, from Germany, from an EU country or from a non-EU country.
The result: On a scale from zero to 100, the average perceived environmental impact value of German peppers was around 33 points. Spanish and Moroccan goods, however, received a value of 50 and 55 respectively from those surveyed. Apples had similar values and distances depending on origin. When it comes to beef, beef from Germany was also rated as the most sustainable, but with a rather high value of 50 and smaller distances to meat from other origins.
The participants consistently considered products from Germany to be more environmentally friendly than those from other countries. For the latter, the estimated sustainability continued to decrease with increasing distance from the growing area. “The data shows a clear pattern: imported food – especially from non-EU countries – is perceived as significantly more harmful to the environment,” says Meyer. “They can be similar or even more environmentally friendly than products from nearby areas.”
Why are regional products sometimes less environmentally friendly?
Contrary to what consumers think, regional products are actually not always the most sustainable. The team explains why using an example: “When it comes to peppers, domestic production in Germany is often less environmentally friendly due to the energy-intensive greenhouse heating,” say the researchers. “Spanish peppers, especially when grown in unheated greenhouses, can cause a lower environmental impact due to their high productivity and economic robustness.”
Even if there are many overall advantages to preferring local products, environmental friendliness is not always one of them, conclude Meyer and her colleagues. International trade is not fundamentally harmful to the environment. In particular, customers often overestimate the environmental impact of transport.
“The indication of origin alone is not enough to promote sustainable decisions,” says Achim Spiller from the Georg-August University of Göttingen. “Instead, we need information that makes real impacts visible, for example through climate or environmental labels.” With the help of such labels, consumers could reliably choose more environmentally friendly foods.
Source: Dorothea Meyer (Georg August University of Göttingen) et al.; Food Quality and Preferences, doi: 10.1016/j.foodqual.2025.105718