Does scale matter? How local sourcing affects land use for circular food systems in the Netherlands

Understanding the potential and impacts of closing resource loops on different spatial scales requires a food systems approach with local context of the biophysical production environment and food demand. We investigated how local sourcing of food affects land use and land use patterns in a circular food system in the Netherlands. We used the food systems optimization model FOODSOM, along with site specific crop yields for a range of food and feed crops, and compared scenarios with varying levels of food self-sufficiency of Dutch provinces. Without restrictions on local sourcing, the Dutch population could be fed a healthy diet using 54 % of current agricultural land, increasing by ∼50.000 ha to 57 % when sourcing 90 % of consumed food locally within each province. Increasing provincial (local) sourcing shifted land use in the Netherlands from high yielding clay and sandy soils in provinces with low population density, to less suitable peat and wet soils in provinces with a high population density. The total land requirement for the Netherlands remained stable up to 50 % of local sourcing, as this could be achieved for all provinces while avoiding lower yielding soils. We show that there is sufficient land to meet food requirements of a healthy diet in the Netherlands. Circularity at the provincial scale requires the use of less suitable land, but only slightly increases total land use area, owing to the high fertility and relatively small yield differences across the country. In countries with larger yield differences between soils, local sourcing would increase land use more drastically. The targeted degree of local sourcing may also depend on how the additional land use affects net greenhouse gas and nutrient emissions and biodiversity when compared to more transport and production elsewhere. • A spatially explicit food systems approach is crucial for understanding the land use impacts of local sourcing of food. • Provincial sourcing of food increased overall land use in the Netherlands. • Local sourcing requires using relatively less favourable land for food production in highly populated provinces. • Up to 90 % of N and P in food could be sourced locally, but only by using peat and wet soils in populous provinces. • The viability of local sourcing is shaped by trade-offs among land-use, nutrient losses, biodiversity and societal impacts.