As you can see, the first three colors--the ones that cover the greenhouse gas impact of the transportation of the food from the farm to the supermarket--are just a small sliver compared to the amount of greenhouse gases emitted during food production. In fact, according to this report, a mere 11% of greenhouse gases emitted because of food consumption are attributable to the transportation of the food. And so this whole "locavore" movement, while tasty, does not have much of a ecological impact.
If you really want to cut back on the ecological impact of your diet, you'd do well to keep cows out of the picture, as they account for about half of all greenhouse gases emitted from food production:
So all you vegetarians out there, this is your free pass to take longer, hotter showers.
Ok that got weird.
EDIT: Eric sensibly asks how much of the total greenhouse gas emissions are caused by food. The report says: "For perspective, food accounts for 13% of every U.S. household's 60 t share of total U.S. emissions; this includes industrial and other emissions outside the home." So food transportation accounts for 11% of 13%, or 1.4% of every U.S. household's emissions.
3 comments:
I'd be curious to know what percent of all greenhouse gases are a result of food production...any idea?
Is the higher environmental impact of red meat not somewhat attributable to its higher demand? It seems that the chart measures impact per household per year, which leads me to believe that we are indeed talking about demand or rates of consumption. Therefore, if we give up red meat in favor of some other food, would then this food not supplant red meat in environmental impact? I don't know, I'm a little drunk.
That's potentially a good critique of the presentation of the data from patrick, I'm curious to see what David's response is.
In addition to environmental impact, we should be staying away from red meat and most dairy products for health reasons. Here's a quote from what's widely considered the most authoritative and up to date nutritional guide, The Nutrition Source at Harvard School of Public Health:
3. Limit red meat—and avoid processed meat. Research suggests that people who eat more than 18 ounces a week of red meat have a higher risk of colon cancer. So make red meat—beef, pork, lamb—only an occasional part of your diet, if you eat it at all. And skip the processed stuff—bacon, hot dogs, and deli meats—since that's also been linked to higher cancer risk.
http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/what-should-you-eat/protein/
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