Food - the headline stats!

[Laura]

The IPCC report suggests that food has a major impact in our planet through both production and consumption. 

“A global study (Stevanović et al., 2017) reported similar GHG reduction potentials for both production-side (agricultural production measures in combination with reduced deforestation) and consumption-side (diet change in combination with lower shares of food waste) measures on the order of 40% in 210011 (compared to a baseline scenario without land-based mitigation). Lower consumption of livestock products by 2050 could also substantially reduce deforestation and cumulative carbon losses (Weindl et al., 2017). On the supply side, minor productivity growth in extensive livestock production systems is projected to lead to substantial CO2 emission abatement, but the emission-saving potential of productivity gains in intensive systems is limited, mainly due to trade-offs with soil carbon stocks (Weindl et al., 2017).”

 

Some other key headline stats:

- Food accounts for 10-30% of a household’s carbon footprint, typically a higher portion in lower-income households (Jones and Kammen, 2011). 

- More than one third of global greenhouse gas emissions caused by hman activity can be attributed to the way we produce, process and package food (UN, 2021). 

 

Comment below any other shocking facts you have found about the food industry! I enjoyed watching Seaspiracy but it did scare me about the state of the food/ fishing industry!