Food's carbon footprint

There is an excellent article in the current issue of New Scientist on the carbon footprint of food - Dinner's Dirty Secret.

Using research mainly from the States the report reveals that greenhouse gas emissions from food account for twice that from travel (8.1 tonnes pa compared to 4.4 tonnes pa per average US household).

Switching to a vegetarian diet from meat would save 1.5 tonnes of CO2 pa per person.

On average consuming organic food compared to conventional food produces only 77% of the greenhouse gases.

When it comes to the debate over whether it is better to eat wild or farmed fish the debate is more complex. However the world's fishing fleet uses 1.2% of global oil consumption (along with over fishing) and the emissions from this are equivalent to the Netherlands annual emissions. However farmed fish requires fish meal is is energy intensive to produce and can cause pollution.

Finally the report addresses whether local food is really green. Their conclusion is controversial - local food only reduces CO2 emissions by4%. However if wider factors are taken into account e.g. the need to prepare for an oil free world (peak oil / transition movement debates) then local food will be a major advantage.

So putting all this together, means that by changing our diets (particularly in the West) we can substantially reduce our carbon footprint. If we assume that the average family is 2.2 people - then by converting to being an 'organic vegetarian' who buys locally the 8.1 tonnes per average family can be cut to 2.6 tonnes - an overall reduction of 68%.

Food for thought!