A Brief Guide To Your Food’s Carbon Footprint

Grains, fruit and vegetables were found by researchers to have the lowest impact in terms of greenhouse gas emissions, while meat from beef and lamb had the highest.

AsianScientist (Nov. 9, 2016) – Researchers have compiled the first comprehensive carbon footprint league table for fresh food so chefs, caterers and everyday foodies can cook meals without cooking the planet. Their work was published in the Journal of Cleaner Production.

The greenhouse gas emissions dataset by Associate Professor Karli Verghese and Dr. Enda Crossin at RMIT University in Australia, working with Dr. Stephen Clune at Lancaster University in the UK, will help consumers and catering firms calculate the environmental impact of the fresh food they eat and the menus they serve. It also suggests altering eating habits for the good of the environment.

Their paper reviewed 369 published studies that provided 1,718 global warming potential values for 168 varieties of fresh produce, including vegetables, fruit, dairy products, staples, meat, chicken and fish. Grains, fruit and vegetables were found to have the lowest impact, followed by nuts and pulses. Chicken and pork (non-ruminant meat) had a medium impact. Fish also had a medium impact on average; however, results between species varied significantly. Meat from beef and lamb (ruminant animals with multiple guts) had the highest impact.

The authors have produced a simple list to illustrate how much, or little, it takes for different foods to contribute a kilogram of greenhouse gas emissions. On average, the quantities of food below each equal 1kg of greenhouse gas emissions:

  • 5.8kg of onions (about 50 medium onions)
  • 3.5kg of apples (about 20 medium apples)
  • 2.6kg oats
  • 1kg lentils
  • 1.2kg of peanuts
  • 800ml of milk
  • 290g of salmon
  • 290g of eggs (about five small eggs)
  • 270g of chicken
  • 244g of kangaroo
  • 212g of rabbit
  • 174g of pork (world average)
  • 38g of beef (world average)
  • 40g of lamb (world average)



The article can be found at: Clune et al. (2016) Systematic Review of Greenhouse Gas Emissions for Different Fresh Food Categories.

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Source: RMIT University; Photo: Pexels.
Disclaimer: This article does not necessarily reflect the views of AsianScientist or its staff.

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