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REPORT
June 2025
Fuel To Fork
What will it take to get fossil fuels out of our food systems?
This page is automatically translated from the English original using DeepL and may contain errors.
Our food system is hooked on fossil fuels. From fossil-fuelled fertilizers and pesticides to plastic packaging, ultra-processed foods, and long-haul cold chains, fossil fuels are entwined at every link in the food chain. Food systems now consume 40% of all petrochemicals and 15% of fossil fuels globally – making them a key growth frontier for Big Oil. Yet food remains glaringly absent from the climate conversation.
This dependency is deepening climate risks and threatening food access. As geopolitical shocks drive oil price volatility, food prices follow – worsening hunger. Meanwhile, as other sectors begin to decarbonize, food the fossil fuel industry is doubling down on fertilizers and plastics to sustain its growth – locking in pollution and keeping food systems on an industrial, fossil-fuelled path.
This report sets out what it will take to break that addiction – and why it must start now. It exposes the false solutions being peddled by powerful corporations – from ‘blue’ ammonia to high-tech digital farming – and maps out real pathways forward: phasing out chemical inputs, investing in agroecology, building resilient local food systems, and reining in corporate power.
Listen to the Fuel To Fork podcast
Delve in further with our accompanying podcast series exposing the fossil fuels in our food.
Errol Schweizer, IPES-Food expert
Fossil fuels are, disturbingly, the lifeblood of the food industry. From chemical fertilizers, to ultra-processed junk food, to plastic packaging, every step is fossil fuel-based. The industrial food system consumes 40% of petrochemicals – it is now Big Oil’s key growth frontier. Yet somehow it stays off the climate radar.
Errol Schweizer, IPES-Food expert
Raj Patel, IPES-Food expert
Tethering food to fossil fuels means tying dinner plates to oil rigs and conflict zones. When oil prices rise, so does hunger – that’s the peril of a food system addicted to fossil fuels. Delinking food from fossil fuels has never been more critical to stabilize food prices and ensure people can access food.
Raj Patel, IPES-Food expert
Molly Anderson, IPES-Food expert
From farm to fork, we need bold action to redesign food and farming, and sever the ties to oil, gas, and coal. Food systems are a major opportunity for climate action. That starts by phasing out harmful chemicals in agriculture and investing in agroecology and local food supply chains – not doubling down on corporate-led tech fixes that delay real change.
Molly Anderson, IPES-Food expert
Georgina Catacora-Vargas, IPES-Food expert
By shifting from ultra-processed diets to locally sourced, diverse foods, by helping farmers step off the chemical treadmill and rebuild biological relationships, by redignifying peasant farming and care work – we can feed the world without fossil fuels.
Georgina Catacora-Vargas, IPES-Food expert
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