Life cycle environmental impacts of fruits consumption in the UK.

Fruits are indispensable for a balanced and healthy diet. However, their environmental impacts remain largely unknown. Using a life cycle approach, this work estimates for the first time the impacts of fruits consumed in the UK. What makes the UK a particularly interesting case is that only 7% of fruits are produced domestically, with the rest imported, largely (70%) from outside of Europe. In total, 21 types of fruit and 46 fresh and processed products produced in the UK and abroad are considered to estimate the impacts at both the product and the national levels. The findings at the product level suggest that melons have the lowest and mangoes and avocados the highest impacts as a significant portion of the last two is air-freighted. Processing leads to high impacts of fruit juices, dried and frozen products. Storage has a considerable contribution to the impacts for fruits stored over a long period, such as apples. Packaging used for canned fruits and juices is also a significant contributor to the impacts. Taking the annual consumption into account, the whole UK fruit sector generates 7.9 Mt CO2 eq. and consumes 94 PJ of primary energy. This is equivalent to 4% of the annual GHG emissions and 9% of energy demand of the whole UK food sector. Moreover, fruits require 0.35 Mha of agricultural land and 315 Mm3 eq. of water per year. Oranges, bananas and apples are responsible for more than half of the impacts at the national level as they account for 64% of the total fruit consumption in the UK. It is expected that the results of this study will be of interest to different supply chain actors, including farmers, food processors and consumers, aiding them in reducing the environmental impacts of fruits.

Plant-Based Dairy Alternatives Contribute to a Healthy and Sustainable Diet.

Plant-based foods are increasing in popularity as more and more people are concerned about personal and planetary health. The consumption of plant-based dairy alternatives (PBDAs) has assumed a more significant dietary role in populations shifting to more sustainable eating habits. Plant-based drinks (PBDs) made from soya and other legumes have ample protein levels. PBDs that are appropriately fortified have adequate levels of important vitamins and minerals comparable to dairy milk. For the PBDs examined, the greenhouse gas emissions were diminished by 59-71% per 250 mL, and the land use and eutrophication impact was markedly less than the levels displayed by dairy milk. The water usage for the oat and soya drinks, but not rice drinks, was substantially lower compared to dairy milk. When one substitutes the 250 mL serving of dairy milk allowed within the EAT Lancet Planetary Health Diet for a fortified plant-based drink, we found that the nutritional status is not compromised but the environmental footprint is reduced. Combining a nutrient density score with an environmental index can easily lead to a misclassification of food when the full nutrition profile is not utilized or only a selection of environmental factors is used. Many PBDAs have been categorized as ultra-processed foods (UPFs). Such a classification, with the implied adverse nutritional and health associations, is inconsistent with current findings regarding the nutritional quality of such products and may discourage people from transitioning to a plant-based diet with its health and environmental advantages.

Greenhouse gas emissions, water footprint, and ecological footprint of food purchases according to their degree of processing in Brazilian metropolitan areas: a time-series study from 1987 to 2018.

BACKGROUND: The consumption of ultra-processed foods has increased worldwide and has been related to the occurrence of obesity and other non-communicable diseases. However, little is known about the environmental effects of ultra-processed foods. We aimed to assess the temporal trends in greenhouse gas emissions (GHGE), water footprint, and ecological footprint of food purchases in Brazilian metropolitan areas, and how these are affected by the amount of food processing. METHODS: In this time-series study, we used data from five Brazilian Household Budget Surveys (1987-88, 1995-96, 2002-03, 2008-09, 2017-18) to calculate GHGE, water footprint, and ecological footprint per 1000 kcal of food and beverages purchased. Food items were classified into NOVA food groups: unprocessed or minimally processed foods (G1); processed culinary ingredients (G2); processed foods (G3); and ultra-processed foods (G4). We calculated the proportion each NOVA food group contributes to daily kcal per person. Linear regression was performed to evaluate trends of the environmental impacts across the years. FINDINGS: Between 1987-88 and 2017-18, diet-related GHGE increased by 21% (from 1538·6 g CO2 equivalent [CO2e] per 1000 kcal [95% CI 1473·3-1604·0] to 1866·0 g CO2e per 1000 kcal [1788·0-1944·0]; ptrend<0·0001), diet-related water footprint increased by 22% (from 1447·2 L/1000 kcal [95% CI 1400·7-1493·8] to 1769·1 L/1000 kcal [1714·5-1823·7]; ptrend<0·0001), and diet-related ecological footprint increased by 17% (from 9·69 m2/1000 kcal [95% CI 9·33-10·05] to 11·36 m2/1000 kcal [10·91-11·81]; ptrend<0·0001). We found that the change in the environmental indicators over time varied between NOVA food groups. We did not find evidence of a change in the environmental indicators for G1 foods over time. GHGE from G2 foods decreased by 18% (ptrend<0·0001), whereas GHGE from G4 foods increased by 245% (ptrend<0·0001). The water footprint from G2 foods decreased by 17% (ptrend<0·0001) whereas the water footprint from G4 foods increased by 233% (ptrend<0·0001). The ecological footprint from G2 foods decreased by 13% (ptrend<0·0001), whereas the ecological footprint from G3 foods increased by 49% (ptrend<0·0001) and from G4 foods increased by 183% (ptrend<0·0001). We found no significant change in contribution by any other NOVA food groups to any of the three environmental indicators over the study period. INTERPRETATION: The environmental effects of the Brazilian diet have increased over the past three decades along with increased effects from ultra-processed foods. This means that dietary patterns in Brazil are becoming potentially more harmful to human and planetary health. Therefore, a shift in the current trend would be needed to enhance sustainable healthy food systems. FUNDING: Science and Technologies Facilities Council-Global Challenges Research Fund.

Impacts of home cooking methods and appliances on the GHG emissions of food.

Food is widely acknowledged as a major contributor to climate change but estimates of food-related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions frequently consider supply chain stages only up to the farm gate or regional distribution centres. Here we estimate GHG emissions associated with different cooking methods and appliances in the UK. Data on current cooking practices were collected through a survey with more than 700 respondents. Our results reveal that home cooking accounts for as much as 61% of total emissions associated with specific foods, and that this can be substantially reduced through alternative, readily available cooking practices.

Using Natural Language Processing and Artificial Intelligence to Explore the Nutrition and Sustainability of Recipes and Food.

In this paper, we discuss the use of natural language processing and artificial intelligence to analyze nutritional and sustainability aspects of recipes and food. We present the state-of-the-art and some use cases, followed by a discussion of challenges. Our perspective on addressing these is that while they typically have a technical nature, they nevertheless require an interdisciplinary approach combining natural language processing and artificial intelligence with expert domain knowledge to create practical tools and comprehensive analysis for the food domain.

Interacting with Members of the Public to Discuss the Impact of Food Choices on Climate Change-Experiences from Two UK Public Engagement Events.

Food systems contribute to up to 37% of global greenhouse gas emissions, and emissions are increasing. Since the emissions vary greatly between different foods, citizens' choices can make a big difference to climate change. Public engagement events are opportunities to communicate these complex issues: to raise awareness about the impact of citizens' own food choices on climate change and to generate support for changes in all food system activities, the food environment and food policy. This article summarises findings from our 'Take a Bite Out of Climate Change' stand at two UK outreach activities during July 2019. We collected engagement information in three main ways: (1) individuals were invited to complete a qualitative evaluation questionnaire comprising of four questions that gauged the person's interests, perceptions of food choices and attitudes towards climate change; (2) an online multiple-choice questionnaire asking about eating habits and awareness/concerns; and (3) a token drop voting activity where visitors answered the question: 'Do you consider greenhouse gases when choosing food?' Our results indicate whether or not people learnt about the environmental impacts of food (effectiveness), how likely they are to move towards a more climate-friendly diet (behavioural change), and how to gather information more effectively at this type of event.

Environmental impacts of vegetables consumption in the UK.

A healthy diet depends on the daily intake of vegetables. Yet, their environmental impacts along the full supply chains are scarcely known. Therefore, this paper provides for the first time a comprehensive evaluation of the life cycle environmental impacts of vegetables consumed in UK. The impacts are assessed for 56 fresh and processed products produced domestically and imported from abroad, considering both the product and sectoral levels. At the product level, taking into account the market mix of fresh and processed vegetables for each vegetable type sold in the UK, asparagus has the highest per-kg impacts across most of the 19 impact categories considered, while cabbage, celery and Brussels sprouts are generally environmentally most sustainable. At the sectoral level, the annual consumption of 10.8 t of vegetables generates 20.3 Mt CO2 eq., consumes 260.7 PJ of primary energy and depletes 253 Mt eq. of water. The majority of the impacts are caused by potatoes since they account for 56% of the total amount of vegetables consumed, with crisps and frozen chips contributing most to the total impacts. Importing vegetables grown in unheated greenhouses in Europe has a lower impact than UK vegetables cultivated in heated greenhouses, despite the transportation. The impacts of air-freighted fresh vegetables are around five times higher than of those produced domestically. Even processed products have lower impacts than fresh air-freighted produce. Packaging also contributes significantly to the impacts, in particular glass jars and metal cans used for processed vegetables. Other significant hotspots are open display cabinets at the retailer and cooking of vegetables at home. The results of this study will be useful for food manufacturers, retailers and consumers, helping to identify improvement opportunities along vegetables supply chains.