Diet and climate change
Diet and climate change
Finally, the participants should summarise what they think should be considered if one wants to adopt a climate-friendly diet. When it comes to the carbon footprint of individual foods, it should become clear that • it makes a major difference where and how these are farmed and/or produced, • regional and seasonal products have a smaller impact on the climate ( → shorter distances to cover, no artificial heat sources), • fresh products are better for the climate than frozen foods ( → refrigeration is energy-intensive), • highly processed foods have a larger carbon footprint (e.g. French fries vs. potatoes). Provided interest in the subject has not waned, workshop leaders are invited to contribute additional aspects to the discussion: • The climate-related benefits of regional foods are mostly eliminated if consumers use their cars to get to the nearest supermarket. • Today, our food is transported over ever increasing distances. • The production of regional outdoor tomatoes generates around 85 grams (conventional) or 35 grams (organic) of CO 2 per kg. By comparison, if tomatoes are grown out of season in heated greenhouses, they incur 100 times as much CO 2 (organic: 9.2 kg vs. conventional: 9.3 kg) 5 . • Butter has a far greater climate impact than margarine. • In Germany, 70% of food-related GHG emissions are incurred by animal products although they only account for 10% of the food consumed. 6
Suggested final statement More than a quarter of all man-made GHG emissions are attributed to food production. 7 If you want to help curb climate change, you don’t have to eat less – but you could consider adapting your eating habits.
Want to know more? Here’s a good video clip that explains whether meat really is that bad for the climate: Is Meat Really that Bad?
5 https://www.nachhaltigkeitsrat.de/aktuelles/bio-ist-nicht-immer-besser-rat-fuer-nachhaltige-entwicklung-empfiehlt-region - ale-und-saisonale-ernaehrung/?cn-reloaded=1 [last accessed on 22 December 2022] (in German) 6 https://www.nachhaltigkeitsrat.de/aktuelles/bio-ist-nicht-immer-besser-rat-fuer-nachhaltige-entwicklung-empfiehlt-region - ale-und-saisonale-ernaehrung/?cn-reloaded=1 [last accessed on 22 December 2022] (in German) 7 Cf. Hannah Ritchie and Max Roser (2022): Environmental Impacts of Food Production. Published online at OurWorldInData.org. Retrieved from: https://ourworldindata.org/environmental-impacts-of-food [Online Resource] [last accessed on 12 December 2022]
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