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    Mr Justice Linden: “If it contains excess fat, sugar or salt, that product is adverse to a child's health"

    Kellogg’s loses court case over sugary cereal

    Farmer Andy Pimbley examining ripening strawberries inside a polytunnel at Claremont Farm in Bebington on the Wirral © Colin McPherson/FT

    Labour shortfall leading to ‘catastrophic’ food waste

    The Longview Power Plant, a coal-fired plant, stands on August 21, 2018 in Maidsville, West Virginia. The plant’s single unit generates 700 net megawatts of electricity from run-of-mine coal and natural gas. Spencer Platt | Getty Images

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    Fertilisers: going cold turkey in a time of crisis

    European Commission Vice-President Frans Timmermans, European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety Stella Kyriakides, and European Commissioner for the Environment Virginijus Sinkevicius

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    Mr Justice Linden: “If it contains excess fat, sugar or salt, that product is adverse to a child's health"

    Kellogg’s loses court case over sugary cereal

    Farmer Andy Pimbley examining ripening strawberries inside a polytunnel at Claremont Farm in Bebington on the Wirral © Colin McPherson/FT

    Labour shortfall leading to ‘catastrophic’ food waste

    The Longview Power Plant, a coal-fired plant, stands on August 21, 2018 in Maidsville, West Virginia. The plant’s single unit generates 700 net megawatts of electricity from run-of-mine coal and natural gas. Spencer Platt | Getty Images

    US Supreme Court limits EPA authority

    “Understanding the emergence of CC398 in European livestock is vitally important for managing the risk it poses to public health”

    Super bug that arose in pigs can jump to humans

    Martin Lines, UK chair for the Nature Friendly Farming Network, says farmers will continue moving away from fertilisers and pesticides

    Fertilisers: going cold turkey in a time of crisis

    European Commission Vice-President Frans Timmermans, European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety Stella Kyriakides, and European Commissioner for the Environment Virginijus Sinkevicius

    EU to halve use of pesticides, heal nature

    trade deals

    WTO strikes global trade deals after ‘roller coaster’ talks

    inflation

    Food inflation is swallowing Latin America’s dietary staples

    Protestors outside UK Parliament with a placard reading, "Keep the protocol, keep the peace."

    New EU legal action over post-Brexit deal changes

    Buyers at Risk Countries in Africa and Asia are among the most reliant on Ukraine grain

    US quietly urges Russia fertiliser deals

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    Mr Justice Linden: “If it contains excess fat, sugar or salt, that product is adverse to a child's health"

    Kellogg’s loses court case over sugary cereal

    Farmer Andy Pimbley examining ripening strawberries inside a polytunnel at Claremont Farm in Bebington on the Wirral © Colin McPherson/FT

    Labour shortfall leading to ‘catastrophic’ food waste

    The Longview Power Plant, a coal-fired plant, stands on August 21, 2018 in Maidsville, West Virginia. The plant’s single unit generates 700 net megawatts of electricity from run-of-mine coal and natural gas. Spencer Platt | Getty Images

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    “Understanding the emergence of CC398 in European livestock is vitally important for managing the risk it poses to public health”

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    Fertilisers: going cold turkey in a time of crisis

    European Commission Vice-President Frans Timmermans, European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety Stella Kyriakides, and European Commissioner for the Environment Virginijus Sinkevicius

    EU to halve use of pesticides, heal nature

    Executive director of Nourish Scotland, Pete Ritchie: “If the UK could just get over itself, alignment on sustainable food with the EU would be helpful”

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Berners-Lee carbon calculator for food choices published

Vegan choices not necessarily best for the environment

by Jack Groves
January 8, 2021
in Environment, Features, Research
Reading Time: 2 mins read
0
Berners-Lee carbon calculator for food choices published

Mike Berners-Lee provided the food carbon calculator for the BBC's Feast to Save the Planet

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The BBC has published a chart adding up the total greenhouse gas cost of foods in the UK’s main diet.

It was designed by carbon footprint expert Mike Berners-Lee, who is a fellow of the Institute for Social Futures at  principal at Small World Consulting.

The publication coincides with the BBC’s Horizon documentary Feast to Save the Planet which Berners-Lee joined.

He said on the programme, “There’s the carbon footprint of inputs such as fertiliser, some animals burp up methane which is a powerful greenhouse gas, there’s agricultural machinery to harvest crops, then processing, and transport, then packaging – all of those things add up to the carbon footprint and ends up in the food checkout.

“We’re measuring the carbon dioxide equivalent [of these foods].”

The figures are a rough guide, as all food supply chains differ and the knowledge is “far from certain”.

It shows that food which is shipped by plane, over long distances, such as asparagus when it’s out of season in the UK, carry a very high carbon footprint. Bananas, although imported from Latin America, have a low carbon footprint because they arrive by ship. Quorn, a vegan protein substitute, has a higher footprint than UK-caught prawns and UK sourced chicken. Parmesan driven from Italy had a higher footprint than UK-sourced bacon.

“Any wasted food means its entire carbon footprint has been completely in vain”

It was said on the programme that in the UK we each produce three tonnes of carbon per year through the food and drink we consume – the same as a flight to Hong Kong. This needs to drop dramatically to meet net zero carbon emission targets by 2050, to slow down the rate of carbon warming.

Berners-Lee said cooking methods can reduce our carbon footprints:

  • Saucepans are less efficient than kettles. Boil water in a saucepan when adding food while the water is cold so, it cooks in the warming water.
  • Using a lid on the saucepan saves 20 percent of the energy otherwise needed.

The programme explained that nearly 60% of our food waste ends up in landfill sites or incinerators. Berners-Lee said, “Any wasted food means its entire carbon footprint has been completely in vain.

“If we put the waste in a landfill site a load of methane is allowed to escape into the atmosphere. Human edible food needs to be eaten by humans.”

In the show, MasterChef judge Gregg Wallace and mathematician Dr Hannah invited five guests to a dinner party where they were scored on the carbon footprint of each dish they ate.

Diners Sara Pascoe, Amol Rajan, Nikki Fox, Desiree Burch and Matthew Fort tried to tell which dishes were better for the environment than others,

You can catch up on the show here.

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Jack Groves

Jack Groves

Jack Groves is a founding contributor to Quota. He views food systems as fundamental to business success and human progress. He is endlessly curious about the people in food systems, their skills and culture. Contact JackGroves@quota.media with news and views.

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