The carbon footprint of Danish diets

Bruno, Morena; Thomsen, Marianne; Pulselli, Federico Maria; Patrizi, Nicoletta; Marini, Michele; Caro, Dario

doi:10.1007/s10584-019-02508-4

Cited by 56 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 57 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…In the present work, the GHG emissions from the diets varied from 1510 kg CO 2 eq per person per year (the Fast-Food diet) to 1830 kg CO 2 eq per person per year (the High-Beef diet). This range is similar to the results from other recently published work as regards Danish diets, (1590 kg CO 2 eq according to Bruno et al [ 20 ]), and Swedish diets (2 t CO 2 eq of which 11% were emissions from tropical deforestation according to Cederberg et al [ 80 ], and 2.2 t CO 2 eq from Moberg et al [ 101 ]). The estimates by Bruno et al [ 20 ] are based on supply data and a lower energy level (2000 kcal) of the diet than the present study and, like the present study, do not include GHG emissions related to land use changes.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

“…Thus, Hallström et al [ 16 ] only identified two studies that included this. This was also the case in a recent study [ 20 ], whereas it was not included for meat in the recent work of Heller et al [ 21 ]. In addition, the GHG emissions and land use also show a high variation depending on whether the beef originates from dairy or beef breed cattle [ 9 , 22 ], and little is known about the impact of the resource use and waste and losses in the food chain from the slaughterhouse until the food is ready for eating as well as about different types of food preparation on the total GHG emission of beef products compared to other products and the total diet…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

The Climate and Nutritional Impact of Beef in Different Dietary Patterns in Denmark

Mogensen

Trolle

2020

Foods

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

There is public focus on the environmental impact, and in particular, the emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG), related to our food consumption. The aim of the present study was to estimate the carbon footprint (CF), land use and nutritional impact of the different beef products ready to eat in different real-life dietary patterns. Beef products accounted for 513, 560, 409 and 1023 g CO2eq per day, respectively, in the four dietary patterns (Traditional, Fast-food, Green, and High-beef). The total CFs of these diets were 4.4, 4.2, 4.3 and 5.0 kg CO2eq per day (10 MJ), respectively. The Green diet had almost the same CF as the Traditional and the Fast-food diets despite having the lowest intake of beef as well as the lowest intake of red meat in total. A theoretical substitution of beef with other animal products or legumes in each of these three diets reduced the diets’ CF by 4–12% and land use by 5–14%. As regards nutrients, both positive and negative impacts of these substitutions were found but only a few of particular nutritional importance, indicating that replacing beef with a combination of other foods without a significant effect on the nutrient profile of the diet is a potential mitigation option.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Climate and Nutritional Impact of Beef in Different Dietary Patterns in Denmark

Mogensen

Trolle

2020

Foods

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Findings from these studies include a reduction in emissions of 56% from shifting to a flexitarian diet [2], 49% from shifting to a vegetarian diet [7], and 29-70% from several different diet scenarios that include a reduced intake of meat [22]. One LCA study done in a Danish context found reductions of 14-44% from shifting to vegetarian and vegan diets [21]. These studies add to the results showing significant potential for lowering emissions through a reduction in meat production.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 86%

“…The agricultural sector has expressed readiness to meet an increasing demand for more plant-based food [14,15], already evident in both Denmark and Europe [16][17][18][19]. Additionally, the National Danish Council on Climate Change advising the Danish Government considers a transition towards a more plant-based food production system vital for achieving the national climate target and achieving a sustainable Danish food system [20,21]. A starting point for such a transition could potentially be the Planetary Health Diet (PHD) suggested by the EAT-Lancet Commission [1].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transition from Animal-Based to Plant-Based Food Production to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Agriculture—The Case of Denmark

Prag

Henriksen

2020

Sustainability

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Curbing emissions from agriculture, and especially from livestock production, is essential in order to fulfil the Paris Agreement. Shifting to a diet lower in meat consumption has been emphasized in several studies. Based on the Planetary Health Diet developed by the EAT-Lancet Commission, this study investigates the effect on agricultural greenhouse gas emissions of transitioning the Danish agricultural system, which currently relies mainly on meat and dairy production, towards increased focus on plant-based foods, combined with replacement or reduction of imported feed and carbon sequestration on previous agricultural land. The study finds a large potential for reducing emissions from Danish agriculture through implementation of the Planetary Health Diet, with reductions of up to 21.7 Mt CO2e (CO2 equivalents) (92.9%) under the most ambitious conditions. This demonstrates the potentially large benefits from transitioning towards a more plant-based European agricultural sector and underscores the need for European and national policies incentivizing this transition.

show abstract

“…It is stated that the potato yields more nutritious food more quickly on less land and in harsher climates than any other major crop: up to 85 percent of the plant is edible human food, while for cereals the figure is around 50 percent. It has low carbon footprint compared to most other foods (Rose et al 2019;Bruno et al 2019;Mertens et al 2019), it has low water footprint compared to most other foods (Mekonen and Hoekstra 2012) and it uses less land per kg production compared to most other food (Mertens et al 2019). Unfortunately, the potato also has some disadvantages: it requires a relatively large amount of seed tubers to be used for starting material, and it is very perishable 3 .…”

Section: Sustainable Diets and Potato Consumptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sustainability and Potato Consumption

Gustavsen

2021

Potato Res.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This paper analyses the frequency of the consumption of table potatoes in Norway. The analysis shows that the frequency of potato consumption is higher in older cohorts than in younger, and it declines over the life cycle. This indicates that the total consumption will continue to decrease as older potato eating cohorts are replaced with younger cohorts who eat potatoes less frequently. This is bad for food security, it is bad for nutritional health and it is bad for the environment. It is argued that nutritional and environmental organizations should work together to increase the status of the potato.

show abstract

The carbon footprint of Danish diets

Cited by 56 publications

References 57 publications

The Climate and Nutritional Impact of Beef in Different Dietary Patterns in Denmark

The Climate and Nutritional Impact of Beef in Different Dietary Patterns in Denmark

Transition from Animal-Based to Plant-Based Food Production to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Agriculture—The Case of Denmark

Sustainability and Potato Consumption

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About