Sustainable Ideas...

The Ethicurean had an interesting blog post, Thinking About Carbon "Foodprints"  on March 2nd about a recent New Yorker article that explores the topic. The basic problem: how we make and get our food produces too much carbon emissions. The Pew Center on Climate Change estimates that agriculture generates 14% of greenhouse gases worldwide, factor in the 18% produced by land use changes and forestry, and the 18% that the UN estimates are caused by livestock (in their report, “Livestock’s Long Shadow”) and it’s no wonder that we’re starting to measure food miles in terms of carbon production. But, after discussing how tricky it is to actually measure carbon footprints for something as simple as a lamb, or as complex as a jar of peanut butter (its more than transport, it’s also what type of fertilizer is used, how the peanuts were grown, etc), the solution may not be eating local. What is the solution, then? I like the idea of having carbon footprint labels on food, to let consumers know just how sustainable their hamburger or frozen pizza is, or a simpler plan might just be to tackle the key ingredients in agriculture—go meat free a few days a week (to cut down on carbon emissions from livestock), buy local produce as much as possible (to cut down on the carbon produced by clearing land for agriculture and the carbon cost to transport it), and be aware of the companies that you’re buying from (to encourage companies to reduce carbon emissions to keep your business).

Here’s the Pew Center on Climate Change Report and the Livestock's Long Shadow Report.

Photo taken from www.foodcarbon.co.uk. Check out their Food Carbon Footprint Calculator!  

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