Carbon footprint | TableDebates

Photo: David Stanley, Machu Picchu, Flickr, CC BY 2.0

Climate change mitigation opportunities based on carbon footprint estimates of dietary patterns in Peru

This paper by researchers in Peru and Spain recognises the as yet uninvestigated potential for developing countries, such as Peru, to mitigate their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by changing dietary patterns, given that food represents a high proportion of household expenditure. The study employed Life Cycle Assessment to analyse the impacts of 47 Peruvian diet profiles.

Beef cattle in a feed lot. Photo by Annie Spratt via Unsplash.

Blog-post by Tara Garnett: Why eating grass-fed beef isn’t going to help fight climate change

In this piece, Dr. Tara Garnett introduces her full report, Grazed and Confused, on the controversy around beef consumption.Dr Tara Garnett is coordinator and lead researcher at the FCRN. It originally appeared in The Conversation on the 3rd October and is reposted here with permisssion. Tara’s work centres on the interactions among food, climate, health and broader sustainability issues and she has a particular interest in livestock as a sector where many of these converge. She is also interested in how knowledge is communicated to and interpreted by policy makers, civil society organisations and industry, and in the values that these different stakeholders bring to food problems and possible solutions.

Grazed and Confused

Ruminating on cattle, grazing systems, methane, nitrous oxide, the soil carbon sequestration question – and what it all means for greenhouse gas emissions.

Photo: Neil Palmer, CIAT Nicaragua, Flickr Creative commons licence 2.0 generic

A rough estimate of the proportion of global emissions from smallholder agriculture

In this information note from the CGIAR programme on Climate change, Agriculture and Food security (CCAFS), researchers present a rough estimate of the proportion of global agricultural emissions that can be attributed to smallholder farmers in developing countries.

Photo: S Khan, Shrimps, Flickr, Creative Commons License 2.0 generic.

The jumbo carbon footprint of a shrimp: carbon losses from mangrove deforestation

This research calculates the carbon footprint of a meal to give a tangible example, aimed at the public in the US, about how daily food decisions can affect deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions (GHGe). The study uses a life-cycle assessment (LCA) approach that takes into account GHGe arising from the conversion of mangrove to cattle pastures and mangrove to shrimping ponds as well as from forests to pasture (cattle induced deforestation).

Photo: Maria Eklind, Crepes at Patisserie David Malmö Sweden, Flickr, Creative Commons License 2.0 generic.

Is a diet low in greenhouse gas emissions a nutritious diet? – Analyses of self-selected diets in the LifeGene study

This research links the self-reported Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ) data of Swedish participants, to Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) data of carbon footprint for food products. The results of this study indicate that a self-selected diet low in diet related greenhouse gas emissions (GHGE) provides comparable intake of nutrients as a diet high in GHGE, and adheres to dietary guidelines for most nutrients.

Shrinking the Carbon and Water Footprint of School Food: A Recipe for Combatting Climate Change

Based on a case study from Oakland California, a new report by Friends of the Earth US finds that schools can make lunches healthier and more climate-friendly while also saving money— by reformulating menus so that they are more plant centred, and contain less (and better) meat and fewer dairy products.

Less beef, less carbon: Americans shrink their diet-related carbon footprint

This report, by the US based NRDC (The Natural Resources Defense Council) finds that the per capita diet related carbon footprint of the average US citizen decreased by 10% between 2005 and 2014, driven by a 19% decrease in beef consumption.

Photo: ishpikawa ken, school lunch, Root, Flickr, Creative Commons License 2.0 generic.

Quantifying the carbon footprint of the catering service of public schools

This summary has been provided by FCRN member Alessandro Cerutti from the European Commission Joint Research Centre (JRC). Public administrations such as schools, hospitals and other sectors are well aware of the effort required to manage all the stages of the catering service, from menu selection through to waste management. Several strategies hold potential to reduce the environmental impacts throughout these stages, especially in the context of the Green Public Procurement (GPP). Unfortunately, despite the best of intentions, budget constraints are constantly forcing managers to make difficult trade-offs.