An interesting study that looks at the food miles debate in relation to the land use implications of localisations is Cowell SJ and Parkinson S, Localisation of UK food production: an analysis using land area and energy as indicators, Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment, 94 (2003).
This study investigates the suggestion that localisation of food production leads to greater sustainability. It asks whether localisation of UK food production is actually possible - in other words on the land available could we grow all the food we need?
It concludes that in theory we could, although this would involve considerable changes in the way we eat. As regards the energy implications of such a strategy, it concludes that the "question cannot be answered without additional consideration of the trade offs between the UK and other countries in yields from equivalent crops and energy requirements for agricultural production."
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