Food Workshop. Food Production: Some Environmental Considerations. Ken Derham. Halesworth U3A Science Study Group. 23 July 2015.

Transcription

1 Food Workshop Food Production: Some Environmental Considerations Ken Derham 23 July 2015 ril 2015 Halesworth U3A Science Study Group

2 Greenhouse Gases from Food Production Agriculture and Food Production/Processing are major contributors to Greenhouse Gases (GHG) and Climate Change How much? Depends how you count it Halesworth U3A Science Study Group

3 How much GHG results from food production? Agriculture is a significant driver of global warming and causes 15% of all emissions, half of which are from livestock. As much as 32% of greenhouse gas emissions come from rearing livestock Halesworth U3A Science Study Group

4 World Watch Livestock & Climate Change FAO estimates that 7,516 million metric tons per year of CO 2 equivalents (CO 2 e), or 18% of annual worldwide GHG emissions, are attributable to cattle [etc]. That amount would easily qualify livestock for a hard look indeed in the search for ways to address climate change. But our analysis shows that livestock and their byproductsactually account for at least 32,564 million tons of CO 2 e pa or 51% of annual worldwide GHG emissions.

5 Types of emissions: Breathing the more cattle etc, the more CO 2 exhaled Methane from manure, flatulence of livestock etc Animal feed Deforestation Fertilizer production Animal housing Transportation Etc, etc

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7 UK An Oxford University study of tens of thousands of British people s eating habits showed: Meat lovers diets cause double to climatechanging emissions of vegetarian diets Meat-rich (>100g (4oz) of meat per day) results in 7.2kg CO 2 e per day Vegetarian and fish-eating diets resulted in 3.82kg CO 2 e per day Vegan diets produce on 2.92kg CO 2 e per day

8 Land and resource use beef requires more than 160 times more land and produces 11 times more GHGs than staples such as wheat, rice and potatoes. It takes 15,500 litres of water (a small swimming pool) to produce a single kilogram of beef. There is plenty of pastureland that is not suitable to grow crops but can be grazed sustainably. Animals can be fed cellulose that we can t digest stalks, leaves and other agricultural and food waste

9 Fish and Seafood Is fishing / fish farming / seafood production sustainable?

10 Population growth A key risk factor for climate change is the growth of the human population, projected to be roughly 35% between 2006 and In the same period FAO projects that the number of livestock worldwide will double, so livestock-related GHG emissions would approximately double.

11 Food Miles 1. The UK produces 19 million tons CO 2 transporting food. 10 million of this is emitted in UK 2. Every year we move 333 million tonnes of food across the UK, generating 41.5 billion tonnekilometres of transport 3. Since 1978 the amount of food moved about within the UK by HGV has increased by 23% and the average distance for each trip has jumped by 50%. 4. Imports of indigenous foods rose from 13.5m tonnes in 1992 to 16.1m tonnes in % of fruit and 50% of vegetables eaten in the UK are imported 6. The amount of food air-freighted around the world has risen by 140% since If all foods were sourced from within 20km of where they were consumed, the country would save 2.1bn in environmental and congestion costs. 8. Locally sourced carrots had 20 Food miles whilst conventionally sourced were 1,838 miles. 9. The average for all vegetables for local and conventionally sourced are 56 miles and 1,494 miles BioEthics Education Project

12 Food waste Guardian Roundtable report Some 842 million people around the world go to bed hungry every night about one person in eight. Meanwhile, about a third of the world s adults are also overweight. There s enough food for everyone, but about a third of all food produced is wasted. FAO estimates: Produced but uneaten food takes up almost 1.4bn hectares of land, ~30% of the world s agricultural land area. Roughly 40% of crops in developing countries are lost because of deficiencies in supply chains

13 Love Food Hate Waste Food thrown away from UK homes: 7 million tonnes of food and drink is thrown away every year in UK Cost to average household is 470 per year Equivalent GHG production to taking 1 in 4 cars off the road

14 Love Food Hate Waste Food thrown away from UK homes: 7 million tonnes of food and drink is thrown away every year in UK Cost to average household is 470 per year Equivalent GHG production to taking 1 in 4 cars off the road The good news:

15 Love Food Hate Waste Food thrown away from UK homes: 7 million tonnes of food and drink is thrown away every year in UK Cost to average household is 470 per year Equivalent GHG production to taking 1 in 4 cars off the road The good news: Between 2007 and 2012 avoidable food waste has reduced by 21%, over 1 million tonnes

16 Love Food Hate Waste

17 What happens to food waste that we put in our bins?

18 What happens to food waste that we put in our bins? Waveney District Council: Mixed food and garden waste in green bins is composted to produce garden soil conditioner Food waste in brown bins goes to Adnams Anaerobic Digestion plant in Reydonto produce biogass

19 Conclusions?

20 Conclusions? Eat less meat Be selective about fish Support local food producers Waste less food