Defining a land boundary for sustainable livestock consumption

Zanten, H.H.E. van; Herrero, Mario; Hal, Ollie van; Röös, Elin; Müller, Adrian; Garnett, Tara; Gerber, Pierre; Schader, Christian; Boer, I.J.M. de

doi:10.1111/gcb.14321

Cited by 267 publications

(227 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…A proper assessment of ecological loop closing is, however, not possible due to a lack of data and appropriate indicators. Criteria to be considered refer to soil degradation, overexploitation of water resources, efficient management of plant nutrients and livestock manure (Zanten et al 2018;Dawson and Hilton 2011), the regional scale of ecological loop closing (Therond et al 2017), and net carbon losses related to cultivation (Erb et al 2017;Fargione et al 2008). This issue is of particular importance because climate change mitigation and bioeconomy strategies foster the use of biomass.…”

Section: Criteria For Ecological Loop Closingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Measuring Progress towards a Circular Economy: A Monitoring Framework for Economy‐wide Material Loop Closing in the EU28

Mayer

Haas

Wiedenhofer

et al. 2018

J of Industrial Ecology

224

108

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Summary The concept of a circular economy (CE) is gaining increasing attention from policy makers, industry, and academia. There is a rapidly evolving debate on definitions, limitations, the contribution to a wider sustainability agenda, and a need for indicators to assess the effectiveness of circular economy measures at larger scales. Herein, we present a framework for a comprehensive and economy‐wide biophysical assessment of a CE, utilizing and systematically linking official statistics on resource extraction and use and waste flows in a mass‐balanced approach. This framework builds on the widely applied framework of economy‐wide material flow accounting and expands it by integrating waste flows, recycling, and downcycled materials. We propose a comprehensive set of indicators that measure the scale and circularity of total material and waste flows and their socioeconomic and ecological loop closing. We applied this framework in the context of monitoring efforts for a CE in the European Union (EU28) for the year 2014. We found that 7.4 gigatons (Gt) of materials were processed in the EU and only 0.71 Gt of them were secondary materials. The derived input socioeconomic cycling rate of materials was therefore 9.6%. Further, of the 4.8 Gt of interim output flows, 14.8% were recycled or downcycled. Based on these findings and our first efforts in assessing sensitivity of the framework, a number of improvements are deemed necessary: improved reporting of wastes, explicit modeling of societal in‐use stocks, introduction of criteria for ecological cycling, and disaggregated mass‐based indicators to evaluate environmental impacts of different materials and circularity initiatives.

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Section: Criteria For Ecological Loop Closingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Measuring Progress towards a Circular Economy: A Monitoring Framework for Economy‐wide Material Loop Closing in the EU28

Mayer

Haas

Wiedenhofer

et al. 2018

J of Industrial Ecology

224

108

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“…Feeding balanced rations has shown considerable potential for reduction of EI Garg et al, 2018). The use of tofu waste as part of a balanced diet for cows is not only advantageous because of its positive effects on milk yield, but also because utilizing these co-products as animal feed prevents foodfeed competition and contributes to circularity of food systems (Vellinga et al, 2012;Van Zanten et al, 2018).…”

Section: Options For Reducing Ei By Improving Milk Yieldsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Entry Points for Reduction of Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Small-Scale Dairy Farms: Looking Beyond Milk Yield Increase

Vries

Zahra

Wouters

et al. 2019

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.

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Increasing milk yield per cow is considered a promising climate change mitigation strategy for small-scale dairy farms in developing countries. As it can be difficult to increase cow productivity, mitigation options beyond this production strategy need to be identified. The aim of this study was to identify entry points for mitigation of GHG emissions in small-scale dairy farms in Lembang Sub-district, West Java, Indonesia. Data on herd composition, productivity, feeding, and manure management were collected in a survey of 300 randomly selected dairy farms. Characteristics of farms with the 25% lowest (<3291 kg milk/cow/y), medium 50% (3291-4975 kg milk/cow/y), and 25% highest milk yields (≥4976 kg milk/cow/y) were compared. Life cycle assessment was then performed to estimate the cradle-to-farm gate GHG emission intensity (EI) of farms. The relationship between EI and milk yield per cow for all farms was modeled and farms with an EI below and above their predicted EI were compared ("low" and "high" EI farms). Results showed that milk yield explained 57% of the variance in EI among farms. Farms with medium and high milk yields were more often specialized farms, fed more tofu waste and compound feed, and had higher feed costs than farms with low milk yields (P < 0.05). Farms with high milk yields also applied less manure on farm land than farms with low milk yields (P < 0.05). Low EI farms had fewer cows, and fed less rice straw, more cassava waste, and more compound concentrate feed (particularly the type of concentrates consisting largely of by-products from milling industries) than high EI farms (P < 0.05). In addition, low EI farms discharged more manure, stored less solid manure, used less manure for anaerobic digestion followed by daily spreading, and applied less manure N on farmland than high EI farms (P < 0.05). Some associations were affected by confounding factors. Farm management factors associated with milk yield and the residual variation in EI were considered potential entry points for GHG mitigation. Feeding less rice straw and discharging manure, however, were considered unsuitable mitigation strategies because of expected trade-offs with other environmental issues or negative impacts on food-feed competition.

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“…In the context of reduced meat consumption, many scenarios have proposed prioritizing grasslands for feeding ruminants. On the other hand, grasslands may remain a niche for pigs and poultry, which are highly criticized for having diets that compete with those of humans for land use (Van Zanten et al, 2018). Flaxseed intake by animals increases the n-3 PUFA content of their products ( Fig.…”

Section: Polyunsaturated Fatty Acidsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Trends in agri-food choices for health since the 1960s: the case of fatty acids

Duru

2019

OCL

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The FA composition of our diet affects human health: SFAs and n-6 PUFAs in excess are a risk factor for a number of chronic diseases, while n-3 PUFAs have a protective role. These FAs should be considered together, since an excessively high n-6:n-3 ratio is linked to a strong pro-inflammatory effect. We reconstructed the FA composition of the French diet from the 1960s to the present to identify the main reasons for decreases or increases due to agriculture, food processing or food choices. From the 1960s to the late 1990s, the diet increased in SFA and n-6 PUFA levels and likely decreased in n-3 PUFA level. Consequently, food behaviors did not follow dietary recommendations. For SFAs, this was due to the sharp increase in cheese and, to a smaller extent, palm oil consumption. For n-6 PUFAs, it was due to the sharp increase in oil consumption, especially linoleic sunflower oil. For n-3 PUFAs, this was due mainly to replacement of grass by maize and soybean meal to feed ruminants. This trend has reversed since the 2000s: the SFA level decreased due to decreased consumption of palm oil and genetic improvements in pigs and poultry, n-6 PUFA level decreased due to increased consumption of oleic instead of linoleic sunflower oil, and n-3 PUFA level increased due to increased consumption of rapeseed oil. These changes are consistent with the FA composition observed in breast milk. Despite these improvements, however, the average dietary composition remains far from the recommendations, especially for n-3 PUFAs. We show the potential for improvement by supplementing animal feed with flaxseed and increasing consumption of oleic sunflower and rapeseed oils, at the expense of that of other oils.

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Defining a land boundary for sustainable livestock consumption

Cited by 267 publications

References 39 publications

Measuring Progress towards a Circular Economy: A Monitoring Framework for Economy‐wide Material Loop Closing in the EU28

Measuring Progress towards a Circular Economy: A Monitoring Framework for Economy‐wide Material Loop Closing in the EU28

Entry Points for Reduction of Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Small-Scale Dairy Farms: Looking Beyond Milk Yield Increase

Trends in agri-food choices for health since the 1960s: the case of fatty acids

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