Which foods are climatic bad-guys?

The larger part of the environmental burden of our food is usually caused by the production process. Animal products are responsible for a disproportionately high share of food-related emissions – 58 percent, and almost all these emissions are emitted in the production stage.  In contrast, fruits and vegetables only amount to 6.5%. 

Even though an ovo-lacto-vegetarian diet uses less land, water and fertilizers compared to an omnivore diet   and produces in a year up to 50% less greenhouse gases , this doesn`t mean that any vegetarian meal is a climate-friendly meal. Products such as cheese and cream have a large negative impact on our climate as well.

In addition, some products such as rice and french fries have a strong global warming potential too. Between different products the global warming potential can differ with a factor 150. Thus, to estimate the saving potential of a meal, it is much better to compare two complete meals directly. Everyone can investigate the emissions of their meals with the eaternity-calculator on our homepage. By deciding what you put on your plate, you decide whether or not to live sustainably.

basic principles for climate-friendly food

 

References

Tukker, A., Huppes, G., Guinée, J., Heijungs, R., Koning de, A., Oers van, L., Sangwon, S., Geerken, T., Holderbeke van, M., Jansen, B., 2006. Environmental Impact of Products (EIPRO) Analysis of the life cycle environmental impacts related to the final consumption of the EU-25 Main report. European Communities, 2006. Spain.

Marlow, H., Hayes, W., Soret, S., Carter, R., Schwab, E., Sabaté, J., 2009. Diet and the environment: does what you eat matter? Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 89: 1 – 5.

Foodwatch Report 2008. Organic: A climate saviour? Based on the IÖW study page 36, 2008.

Thitakamol, T., 2008, Influence of Distillery Slop on Methane Emission in Rice Paddies. Environment Asia 1: 46-50.

Wiegemann, K., Eberle, U., Fritsche, U., Hünecke, K., 2005. Umweltauswirkungen von Ernährung – Stoffstromanalysen und Szenarien. Ernährungswende. Diskussionspapier Nr. 7. Darmstadt/Hamburg, 2005.