Follow these five rules to choose food and improve your health and that of the planet

 

 

From a nutritional point of view, a balanced diet, such as the Atlantic or Mediterranean, has multiple benefits for our health, as it helps mitigate and reduce the negative impact of various diseases.

Personal benefit can also be extended to the collective good and contribute to the care of the planet when we consume products that respect the environment, since it must be taken into account that the production and consumption of food carries a great environmental impact. To elucidate the quantification of this impact, there are two indicators that we can use: carbon footprint and water footprint.

CARBON FOOTPRINT AND WATER FOOTPRINT

The carbon footprint is a measure of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and is defined as the amount of carbon dioxide equivalent that a product generates in a period of time throughout its life cycle (extraction, production , packaging, transport, consumption and waste management).

Along with the energy and transport sectors, the food sector is one of the anthropogenic activities with the highest GHG generation. Currently, the Paris Agreement tries to put a limit on all these emissions, so that each country commits to an effective reduction (Figure 1).

Figure 1. CO₂ emissions per capita in the world. The three main emission sectors: energy, transport and food. Gumersindo Feijoo. CO2 bottom left margin graph Earth, Author provided

On the other hand, the water footprint quantifies the total volume of fresh water used throughout the entire value chain to produce the goods that we usually consume. FAO has established that 70% of the world's water footprint is related to food production .

The values ​​of both footprints are quite variable depending on the production system (Figure 2) and the type of food:

• Fruits have mean values ​​of 350 g CO₂ (eq) / kg and 900 L / kg for the carbon and water footprint, respectively.

• Legumes and vegetables present average values ​​of 450 g CO₂ (eq) / kg and 250 L / kg.

• In milk and milk derivatives, values ​​are observed in a higher order of magnitude, averaging 1,500 g CO₂ (eq) / kg and 1,000 L / kg.

• Fish and meat show notable variations depending on the species. As an example, sardines are at 360 g CO₂ (eq) / kg, cod at 1 500 g CO₂ (eq) / kg, chicken at 3000 g CO₂ (eq) / kg and veal at 9000 g CO₂ (eq) / kg ..

HOW TO CHOOSE THE MOST SUSTAINABLE FOODS

Once the diet appropriate to our lifestyle, age and health status has been defined, we have a wide variety of foods with similar functionalities and nutritional properties. Then comes the time to introduce 5 basic rules that are easy to incorporate into our daily consumption that, in general terms, allow us to guarantee a minimization of the environmental impact of the food to be consumed.

1. Verify the origin of the food. As a large French food distribution chain advertised more than 15 years ago: “ Moins de transport, moins de CO₂ ” ( Less transport, less CO₂ ). Under this premise, the name of awareness of Km 0 has arisen, which consists of identifying the food produced within a radius of 100 km from the point of consumption, thus being a call to promote the local product.

2. Analyze the container. Often the continent has a greater impact than the content. The containers can have a high intensity of material (overpacked) and energy (consumption of fossil fuels in their manufacture). Orienting the purchase to products with minimal and biodegradable packaging is always a good environmental option.

3. Respect the temporality of the products . It is associated with each season of the year and region of the planet, according to the natural cycles of production. Coordination between climatic conditions and production systems means a significant reduction in the carbon and water footprint.

4. Look for the presence of eco-labels . They can certify and guarantee that various ecological criteria are met, which in turn allows to enhance and encourage the incorporation of these strategies in marketing (Figure 3). Although it is true that the application of these four rules will depend on the supply, it is ultimately about influencing it with our demand.

5. Reduce food waste. This fifth and final rule depends exclusively on the consumer. It is enough to think about the amount of matter and energy necessary for food to reach our refrigerators and cupboards, so that unfortunately it is not consumed and, therefore, it becomes directly waste. Greater awareness in this regard would help reduce the current average waste in our homes.

A 50% reduction in the loss of food in households can lead to an annual emission of half a million tons of CO₂ (eq) in Spain (which, taking into account that the average value during 2020 in the CO₂ market it was € 24.75 / tonne, it would mean bonuses worth 12 million euros) and 510 Hm³ of water (practically the annual water consumption of Berlin and Madrid).

Figure 3. Ecolabels. Above: photo at an auction in the Ribeira fish market with sea bream certified with pescadeRias (artisanal fleet) and Pescaenverde (low carbon footprint). Below: Banana bulk sale certified by the Rainforest Alliance that verifies environmental and social criteria Gumersindo Feijoo, Author provided

In this link, a simple spreadsheet is available to estimate the environmental and economic impact caused by the waste of the 64 most common foods in the consumer's shopping cart.

It is time to become an active part of the planet's environmental commitment, each of us can contribute our grain of sand.

 

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