How To Reduce Your Food Carbon Footprint
What is a carbon footprint?
The phrase ‘carbon footprint’ is something we’ve all heard of, but few people know exactly what it means. A carbon footprint is the total climate impact of an activity or item: from its creation, transportation and use to its destruction or wastage.
Most of the time a carbon footprint refers to the amount of greenhouse gases that something creates, which is mainly carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide. These gases can trap heat in our atmosphere, which causes global warming.
Everything has a carbon footprint; the food you eat, the gadgets you use, the clothes you wear, and you yourself. Companies, cities and countries also have a carbon footprint, as do specific activities such as flying and driving.
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What creates a food carbon footprint?
By learning which lifestyle factors have the largest and smallest carbon footprints, you can help reduce your individual carbon footprint overall. The following lifestyle factors are responsible for creating carbon footprints:
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Production – the fertilisers, pesticides, animal feed, water and other materials - like electricity - used to grow or raise food
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Processing – harvesting crops and dispatching animals, or the energy used in creating secondary foods such as dairy products
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Transportation – this includes from farms to processing plants, then on to retail units and finally from the shops to your home
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Storage and cooking – the electricity involved in refrigerating and then cooking the food you’ve bought
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Waste – this is both the food you throw away and unsold food disposed of by retailers
Although there are many ways to minimize your carbon footprint through lifestyle changes alone, making dietary changes is also a good place to start.
How to reduce your carbon footprint - starting with what’s on your plate
Eat less meat
While food systems are complicated, and research is still evolving on what the most environmentally-friendly diet is, experts mostly agree that cutting down on meat, and red meat in particular, is a better choice for the environment. This is because the production of red meat uses a lot of feed, water and land. Cows themselves also give off methane emissions, a harmful greenhouse gas. For that reason, eating a vegan diet is likely to be best for the environment. Beef gives off more than six pounds of carbon dioxide per serving; the amount created per serving by rice, legumes carrots, apples or potatoes is less than half a pound.
Eating a vegetarian or pescetarian diet are also likely to be better for the environment than a diet which includes a lot of meat. Each of these, however, depend on exactly what you are eating, and how much of it. If you replace that meat with dairy, for example, your emissions could rise again. Overall, eating low down the food chain as often as you can is a probably a good way to reduce your carbon footprint and stay healthy, say experts. That means filling your plate with vegetables, fruits, grains and beans.
For meat-lovers, even swapping carbon-intensive meats like beef and lamb with chicken can make a difference. Better still, swap a few meals per-week to vegan or vegetarian. This protein card can help you make climate - and wallet - friendly choices at the grocery store.
Weighing Your Options
When it comes to food, most greenhouse gas emissions happen during production, rather than transportation. What you eat is more important than where it comes from. But eating local can still make a difference. Fewer food-miles can mean fewer emissions. The complicating factor in eating locally happens when you start to consider how the food got to you, not just from how far away it came.
Tomatoes brought a short distance to a farmers market by truck, or shipped further to the grocery store by a train, could release similar emissions. The transportation you take to get your tomatoes, and bring them home, also matters.
Local meat vs imported vegetables
Eating only locally grown food for one year would save the greenhouse gas equivalent of driving 1,000 miles, but eating just one vegetarian meal a week for a year saves 160 miles more than that, according to one study from researchers at Carnegie Mellon.
Try organic
You might choose organic if you prefer to eat produce grown with fewer chemical pesticides, but when it comes to reducing your carbon footprint, you’re better off shifting to low-impact, plant-based foods, according to a recent study published in the journal Environmental Research Letters. The study found that organic systems use less energy than conventional ones, but they often require more land and, therefore, emit similar greenhouse gas emissions.
Waste Less
On average, Americans waste around 40 percent of the food they buy. Luckily, there are simple solutions to lower your food waste, and these tips will save you money, too:
Take stock
Organize your fridge regularly to check on what you already have, and make grocery shopping lists before you go to the store to prevent buying things you don’t need.
Be wary of bulk
Low-priced food might seem like a good deal, but it’s not if you don’t end up eating it before it goes bad.
Plan
Don’t cook more food than you can eat. Account for the right amount of food for the number of people eating, and adapt recipes to your needs.
Get creative
Reuse leftovers instead of tossing them.
Freeze
Extend the life of your food, including additional portions, as well as produce like fresh herbs, by freezing them properly.
Doggie bag
Take home half of oversized restaurant servings.
What to Eat On
Skip the disposable dishes and wash your dinnerware instead. Washing dishes, whether it is by hand or in a dishwasher, is likely to be more environmentally friendly than using disposable ones - assuming your dishwasher is energy efficient. If you do need to use disposable plates, bowls and cutlery, there are climate-friendly options. Look for compostable or biodegradable options. If you order takeout, wash and reuse the plastic containers that food often comes in.
9 nutrition tips for reducing your carbon footprint
There are plenty of ways to reduce your food carbon footprint, from switching to a plant-based diet and looking at how and where those plants are grown, to eating your leftovers or prioritising seasonally grown produce. You can also make more environmentally friendly food choices too. The following nutrition tips will help you to reduce your overall carbon footprint:
1.Stop wasting food
Food waste is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. That’s because food that’s thrown away decomposes in landfills and emits methane, a particularly potent greenhouse gas. Over a 100-year period, methane is estimated to have 34 times the impact as carbon dioxide on global warming.
It’s currently estimated that each person on the planet wastes a staggering 428–858 pounds of food per year, on average. Reducing food waste is one of the easiest ways to decrease your carbon footprint. Planning meals ahead of time, saving leftovers, and buying only what you need go a long way towards saving food.
2.Ditch the plastic
Using less plastic is an important part of transitioning to an environmentally friendly lifestyle. Plastic wrapping, plastic bags, and plastic storage containers are commonly used by consumers and the food industry alike to pack, ship, store, and transport food. Yet, single-use plastic is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions.
Here are some tips to use less plastic:
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Forego plastic bags and plastic wrap when purchasing fresh produce.
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Bring your own grocery bags to the store.
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Drink from reusable water bottles — and don’t buy bottled water.
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Store food in glass containers.
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Purchase less take-out food, as it’s often packed in Styrofoam or plastic.
3.Eat less meat
Reducing your meat intake is one of the best ways to lower your carbon footprint. Diets that release the most greenhouse gasses are typically the highest in meat from beef, veal, pork, and other ruminants. Meanwhile, the diets lowest in greenhouse gas emissions are typically lowest in meat.
This is because the emissions from livestock production, especially beef and dairy cattle, represent 14.5% of the globe’s human-induced greenhouse gas emissions. You can try limiting your meat dishes to one meal per day, going meat-free one day per week, or testing out vegetarian or vegan lifestyles.
4.Try plant-based protein
Eating more plant-based protein can dramatically cut your greenhouse gas emissions. People with the lowest greenhouse gas emissions often have the highest intake of plant-based proteins, including legumes, nuts, and seeds — and the lowest intake of animal proteins.
Still, you don’t need to cut animal protein from your diet completely. For reference, a serving of meat is around 3 ounces. If you regularly eat more than that each day, try swapping in more plant-based proteins, such as beans, tofu, nuts, and seeds.
5.Cut back on the dairy
Cutting back on dairy products, including milk and cheese, is another way to reduce your carbon footprint. Dairy products are the second largest contributor to individual greenhouse gas emissions, behind only meat. Dairy production is also a major contributor to climate change. Dairy cattle and their manure emit greenhouse gasses like methane, carbon dioxide, nitric oxide, and ammonia.
In fact, because cheese takes so much milk to produce, it’s associated with greater greenhouse gas emissions than animal products like pork, eggs, and chicken. To get started, try eating less cheese and replacing dairy milk with plant-based alternatives like almond or soy milk.
6.Eat more fiber-rich foods
Eating more fiber-rich foods not only improves your health but may also reduce your carbon footprint. Typically, the diets lowest in greenhouse gas emissions were high in fiber-rich plant foods and low in saturated fats and sodium. These foods may help keep you full, naturally limiting your intake of items with a heavy carbon load.
Plus, adding more fiber to your diet may improve your digestive health, help balance your gut bacteria, promote weight loss, and protect against illnesses like heart disease, colorectal cancer, and diabetes.
7.Grow your own produce
Growing your own produce in a community garden or your backyard is associated with numerous benefits, including reduced stress, better diet quality, and improved emotional wellbeing. Cultivating a plot of land, no matter the size, can reduce your carbon footprint as well.
That’s because growing fruits and vegetables reduces your use of plastic packaging and your dependency on produce transported long distances. Practicing organic farming methods, recycling rainwater, and composting may further reduce your environmental impact.
8.Don’t eat excess calories
Eating more calories than your body needs may promote weight gain and related illnesses. What’s more, it’s linked to higher greenhouse gas emissions. Those with higher greenhouse gas emissions often consume more calories from food and beverages than those who had low greenhouse-gas-emitting diets. Likewise, those with the highest greenhouse gas emissions often consume 2.5 times more calories than people with the lowest emissions.
Keep in mind that this typically only applies to people who are overeating, not to those who are eating enough calories to maintain a healthy body weight. Your calorie needs depend on your height, age, and activity level. Some options to reduce your calorie intake include cutting out nutrient-poor, calorie-rich foods like candy, soda, fast food, and baked goods.
9.Purchase local foods
Supporting local farmers is a great way to reduce your carbon footprint. Buying locally lowers your dependence on food transported vast distances and may increase your intake of fresh fruits and vegetables, helping offset your carbon emissions. Eating seasonal foods and supporting organic growers are additional ways to minimize your footprint.
That’s because food produced out of season is typically imported or takes more energy to grow due to the need for heated greenhouses. Furthermore, switching to local, sustainably produced animal products like eggs, poultry, and dairy can slash your carbon footprint. You may likewise gain a greater appreciation for the unique foods native to your region.
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Revolutionizing your diet, as well as a few simple lifestyle changes, are excellent ways to reduce your carbon footprint and help keep you healthy too. Keep in mind that efforts that seem small can make a big difference.
Extra tips for reducing your carbon footprint
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Organize your fridge regularly to check on what you already have, and make grocery shopping lists before you go to the store to prevent buying things you don’t need.
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Be wary of bulk. Low-priced food might seem like a good deal, but it’s not if you don’t end up eating it before it goes bad.
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Eating a vegetarian or pescetarian diet are also likely to be better for the environment than a diet which includes a lot of meat.
