Here’s some handy information from the folks at the University of California Davis:
Science for Stewardship and Human Wellbeing
Food and Global Warming: The “Hotspots”
What the research tell us…
Highest energy and greenhouse gas emissions are associated with:
- Livestock-related methane and nitrous oxide emissions
- Synthetic nitrogen fertilizers
- Heated greenhouse production
- Air freight
- Post-retail, consumer transport to shopping
- Food waste and multiple points in the supply chain
Eating/ Purchasing Practices leading toward a Low Carbon Lifestyle
- Eat less meat (ruminants-animals that chew their cuds: cattle, sheep)
- Reduce portion sizes; get it out of the center of the plate; make it a condiment
- Eat meat less often
- Change the type of meat you eat to pork, chicken, fish
- Eat more whole grains and fresh/minimally processed fruits and vegetables
- Support farmers using less synthetic fertilizers
- Avoid foods produced in heated greenhouses
- Eat foods in season
- Avoid air-freighted foods
- Buy those transported by other means
- Plant a garden
- Walk, bike, take public transportation or share rides to food shopping
- Make a list and shop once/week
- Waste less food or Eat what you buy
- Compost food scraps
For more information, please contact Gail Feenstra, food systems analyst, ASI, gwfeenstra@ucdavis.edu
- A “carbon footprint” is only ONE aspect of a more sustainable food system. Other very important criteria include: Knowing/ trusting the person you buy food from; Supporting local farmland preservation; Taste, quality of food; Ethical dimensions: fair wages paid to farmworkers.