The Food System and Climate Change

Transcription

1 Reducing Our Food Carbon Footprint: Attitudes and Procurement Strategies Among Consumers and Institutional Food Service Gail Feenstra and Sonja Brodt

2 Overview Role of food system in climate change Awareness of institutional buyers re: food carbon footprint Awareness of individual consumers re: food carbon footprint Opportunities for catalyzing change

3 The Food System and Climate Change The food system is responsible for: 19-30% of GHG emissions resulting from all sectors of the consumer economy in the UK & EU (Garnett 2008; European Commission 2006) 16% of total national energy use in the US (Hendrickson 1996)

4 Greenhouse Gas Emissions in the Food System GHG emissions across the food system in the UK Waste disposal Home food related Transport Retail Packaging Catering Food manufacturing Fertiliser manufacture Agriculture GHG Hotspots: Synthetic nitrogen fertilizer (72% of U.S. N 2 O emissions) Livestock (18% of global GHGs) Refrigeration Air freight Consumption Waste (estimated at 14-30% of household food purchases) SOURCE: Garnett, T Cooking Up A Storm: Food, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, and Our Changing Climate. Center for Environmental Strategy, Univ of Surrey, UK.

5 Lack of Media Attention Bloomberg School of Pub Health study of 16 of top 20 U.S. newspapers, based on circulation (Sept 2005 Jan 2008) Type of Article Number % Climate change 4,582 Food and climate change Substantial focus on issue Mention meat/dairy contributions % % % Source: Neff et al. 2008

6 Lack of Consumer Sense of Responsibility Leopold Center survey of 751 consumers nationwide in 2008 Who should take the biggest role in minimizing the carbon footprint? % of Respondents Me Government Manufacturers/Processors Other Don't know Farmers Retailers/Supermarkets Source: Pirog & Rasmussen 2008

7 Impact of Activities at the Consumer Level Consumption stage accounts for ¼ of GHG emissions of the Dutch food supply chain CO2-equivalents Agriculture Industry Packaging Transport Trade Consumption Waste Source: Kramer 2000

8 Impact of Activities at the Consumer Level Efficiency of home appliances: Energy Star-rated appliances can be 10-50% more efficient One Arizona study of garbage cans estimated that households waste 14% or more of the food they purchase; a UK study estimates 30% (Jones; WRAP 2008)

9 Impact of Activities at the Consumer Level Impact of home storage on life cycle energy use of food products Energy Use in Swedish Tomato Ketchup GJ per unit Agric Proc Pckg (landfill) Pckg (recycling) Transport Shopping Home store 1 mo Home store 12 mo Source: Anderssen et al. 1998

10 Food Miles: Fact or Fantasy? High resonance with consumers, however.. Transportation responsible for ~ % of GHG emissions of the total food system Use of cars for consumer shopping can overshadow transportation in all previous stages of the food s life cycle. All food miles are not created equal g CO2/ton-mile Source: Weber and Matthews 2008 Sea: bulk carrier Rail Truck Air

11 Food Miles v Production: Local production does not always mean lower overall GHG emissions than long-distance shipping. Heated greenhouses use 9 to 21 times more energy than open air production (Van Hauwermeiren et al. 2007) Tomatoes consumed in Sweden: Fresh, from S Europe: 5.4 MJ/kg Canned, from S Europe: 14 MJ/kg Greenhouse, Sweden: 66 MJ/kg (Carlsson-Kanyama et al. 2003)

12 Bringing Students, Farmers and Food Service to the Table Tapping the Potential This project is supported by the National Research Initiative of the USDA Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service, grant number

13 Research Components: Farm to Institution Programs National survey of students Interviews of foodservice managers at California colleges & teaching hospitals In-depth interviews with California producers and distributors participating in current farm-to-institution distribution models

14 Foodservice Managers Interest in Local & Sustainably Produced Foods 28% of colleges have local produce buying program 22% of colleges are developing local produce buying program Significant interest also in locally produced dairy products and baked goods average ratings of 5.8 and 5.7, respectively, on 1-7 scale

15 How much local food are service managers buying? 26% of produce from local growers Ave of $226,000 per institution $145,000 from small to mid-scale growers Could increase to 38% of produce

16 Awareness of carbon footprints "Carbon Footprint" as part of Definition of Sustainability Percent Percent of Environmental Mentions Percent of Total Mentions Farmers n=17 Distribs n=14 Buyers n=16

17 Institutional Awareness of Food Carbon Footprint % that mentioned...as an advantage of working with local farmers/f2i % FSBs %Distributors % Farmers Quality Support local economy Decrease footprint (less fuel use) Creates community, connectedness, education

18 Bon Appetit Management Company s Low Carbon Diet Goal : to reduce GHG emissions in the highest impact areas by 25% over three years. Already reduced beef purchases 23% systemwide by end of Year 1 (April 2008). High-impact potential: Over 400 cafes in 28 states serve over 40 million meals annually.

19 Food Services Industry Actions for Lowering the Carbon Footprint Buy more organic, local Serve less meat Change bidding requirements to support low carbon (regional, sustainable) products Labeling options: air freighted, carbon Waste reduction strategies Education to suppliers, customers Collaboration on research (LCA, other)

20 Educating Food Service about Food Carbon Footprints Network meetings with suppliers (farmers, distributors) Roundtables Professional conferences (NACUFS) Advisory committees

21 Student Awareness What do they care about? Safety 87% Nutrition 77% Working conditions Environmental impacts Treatment of animals 61% 57% 55%. Wages of workers Influence of large corporations 51% 41% How far food travels 22% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% % of students interested in food system topics (N=219)

22 Opportunities for Increasing Consumer Awareness While problem is complex, we need simple messages : Focusing on a few major issues: Eating lower on the food chain (less meat & dairy) Avoid air freighted food (mode of transport vs. simple food miles) Waste reduction strategies Consolidate shopping trips (for general consumer population) Start with what they know and care about already Nutrition & health combine health and climate change messages (e.g. less meat, more fruits & vegetables) ID simple indicators and metrics

23 Contact Information 1 Shields Ave. Davis, CA Gail Feenstra: gwfeenstra@ucdavis.edu Sonja Brodt : sbbrodt@ucdavis.edu

24 References Andersson, K., Ohlsson, T. and Olsson, P Screening life cycle assessment (LCA) of tomato ketchup: a case study. J Cleaner Production 6: Carlsson-Kanyama, M.P. Ekstrom, and H. Shanahan Food and life cycle energy inputs: consequences of diet and ways to increase efficiency. Ecological Economics 00: European Commission (2006). Environmental Impact of Products: Analysis of the Life Cycle Environmental Impacts Related to the Final Consumption of the EU-25. Technical Report EUR EN. Spain: European Comission, Joint Research Centre, Institute of Prospective Technological Studies. Garnett, T Cooking Up A Storm: Food, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, and Our Changing Climate. Center for Environmental Strategy, Univ of Surrey, UK. Hendrickson, J Energy Use in the U.S. Food System: A Summary of Existing Research and Analysis. Madison, WI: Univ. of Wisconsin, Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems. Jones, T.W. Using contemporary archeology and applied anthropology to understand food loss in the American food system. University of Arizona Bureau of Applied Research in Anthropology and USDA. Kramer, K.J Food Matters: On Reducing Energy Use and Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Household Food Consumption. PhD Dissertation, University of Groningen, The Netherlands: Universal Press. Neff, R.A., Chan, I.L., and Smith, K.C Yesterday s dinner, tomorrow s weather, today s news? U.S. newspaper coverage of food system contributions to climate change. Public Health Nutrition DOI /s Pirog, R. and Rasmussen, R Food, Fuel, and the Future: Consumer Perceptions of Local Food, Food Safety, and Climate Change in the Context of Rising Prices. Ames, IA: Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, Iowa State Univ. Van Hauwermeiren, A., H. Coene, G. Engelen, and E. Mathijs Energy life cycle inputs in food systems: a comparison of local versus mainstream cases. J Environ. Policy & Planning 9(1): Weber, C.L. and Matthews, H.S Food miles and relative climate impacts of food choices in the United States. Environ. Sci Technol. 4: WRAP The Food We Waste. UK. 2_.5f5c pdf