Your food has a carbon footprint, too!
When it comes to getting food on our table, every aspect of the process contributes to climate change – from farming, transportation to the supermarket, and then getting it to our table.
The amount of greenhouse gases produced by these actions is what makes up your food’s carbon footprint. And the type of food we eat, where we get it from, and how we manage our waste all contribute to our own personal carbon footprint. That’s why it’s so important to make climate-friendly choices to decrease our footprint – and it can be as simple as being more conscious and knowledgeable shoppers! These diagrams show how your choice of protein alone significantly impacts your "footprint":
As you can see, animal products have a huge environmental impact. Aside from land use and water requirements, meat and other animal products (yogurt, eggs, milk, etc.) yield much higher emissions than other sources of protein (tofu, beans, nuts, etc.).
Where, when, and how you purchase you food also affects your food climate footprint (or "foodprint").
Next time you're at the supermarket, take a look at where the food you're buying is from: avocadoes from Mexico or Columbia, oranges from Brazil, tomatoes from China. Longer transport times means more packaging, efforts to keep food cool and fresh, and use of gas-powered vehicles was involved in getting that food from its production facility to your grocery store.
Also take a look at what it's wrapped in - most clamshell and cling wrapping is not recyclable and also leads to greater climate degradation.
Not sure about the status of your carbon footprint? Take this quick quiz from foodprint.org to calculate the impact of your diet:
So how can you lessen your foodprint?
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Choose your proteins wisely
Swap out red meat and poultry with lower-impact proteins such as beans, tofu, nuts, or farmed fish. And you don't need to go cold turkey (no pun intended) -- dropping red meat for just a few meals a week makes a real difference on your foodprint!
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Evaluate your go-to recipes
Use this calculator from My Emissions to see the climate impact of a specific recipe. You can also use this calculator to evaluate the impact of one or two ingredients at a time.Â
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Shop local and in-season
See what fruits and vegetables are seasonal in your area with this tool from Seasonal Food Guide. And make sure that you're purchasing locally sourced produce as well -- it doesn't matter how seasonal something is if it was grown 100 miles away!
Browse more climate-friendly recipes:
Not interested in auditing your current dinner lineup? Browse certified climate-friendly recipes on one of these sites:
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The Youth Climate Institute© educates and certifies the next generation of leaders on climate science, environmental justice and real world solutions. YCI student voices are amplified for civic action and positive change in their communities leading to aware, engaged and responsible stewards of our shared planet.
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