5 tips for a more 'eco' diet (without leaving the roast)

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(CNN Spanish) --

 Yes, you are aware that beef is the most harmful food for the climate.

But no, it is not in your plans to abandon roasts or barbecues with family and friends.

That doesn't mean you're not willing to take other steps to reduce the carbon footprint of your diet.

But wich ones?

We give you 5 tips.

First, some data: 26% of greenhouse gas emissions come from food, according to the FAO, among other organizations.

And only livestock is responsible for 14.5% of emissions.

Beef is the food that produces the most gases of this type, according to a report by the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Secondly, and if we take into account the CO2 emitted per kg.

consumed, another ruminant follows: the lamb.

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Meat is widely recognized as the most climate-damaging food.

A new study on food and global warming pollution in the United States published by the Natural Resources Defense Council states that each kilogram of meat produces 26.5 kilograms of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, the highest amount of all research, which is five times that of chicken and turkey.

Animal agriculture is responsible for 14.5% of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

Look through this gallery to see more foods that are bad for the environment.

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Another ruminant, lamb, is in second place on the list of the 10 foods that do the most damage to the environment, which confirms that red meat is one of the foods that use the most resources and, therefore, one of the most harmful to the climate.

For every kilo of lamb consumed, 22.9 kilos of CO2 are emitted into the atmosphere, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council.

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A little further, but equally harmful to the environment, is butter: each kilogram of butter is equivalent to 12 kilograms of carbon dioxide, almost half of that produced by beef.

Butter is the most climate-damaging dairy product because its preparation involves many energy-consuming steps.

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Each kilo of shellfish can cost the environment 11.7 kilos of CO2, according to research done in the United States by the Natural Resources Defense Council, an international nonprofit environmental organization founded in 1970. According to the Council , Americans have been reducing seafood consumption since 2005.

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Another dairy product, cheese, appears in fifth place in the 10 most harmful foods for the environment, with 9.8 kilos of CO2 emissions for every kilo produced.

And things get worse when cheeses require refrigeration to be transported and airlifted to other countries, which has major impacts on the climate.

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In the list of the 10 foods that do the most damage to the climate, there is a vegetable: asparagus.

For every kilo of asparagus produced, 8.9 kilos of CO2 are emitted.

The reason is, above all, in the air miles.

Almost all the asparagus consumed in the United States comes from Latin America, which means that gigantic greenhouse gas emissions have been made to reach the table.

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Every kilo of pork produced releases 7.9 kilos of carbon dioxide, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council study, which analyzed 197 food products.

Another meat on the list.

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Another food that belongs to the beef and dairy supply chain: veal.

However, it has less of an impact than beef, because calves are slaughtered when they are very young, usually when they are 20 weeks old, compared to the average 18 months expected to kill a cow.

Each kilo of beef produces 7.8 kilos of CO2.

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Although eating less chicken is one of the biggest contributors to reducing per capita food-related greenhouse gas emissions in the United States, poultry products remain in the top 10 most climate-damaging, with around 5 kilograms of CO2 for every kilogram of that food produced.

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And closing the list is turkey, which has the same carbon footprint as chicken, with about 5 kilos of CO2 for every kilo produced.

In general terms, animal products are more polluting than vegetables.

For this reason, calls are multiplying to adopt vegetarian or vegan diets as more climate-friendly options.

But if you prefer to continue enjoying a hamburger from time to time, here are some measures that can help:

Choose other types of meat (or reduce portions)

If you do not want to completely abandon meat, experts propose an alternative diet: the flexitarian.

Implying?

Keep small amounts of red meat and poultry, fish, milk and eggs, also betting on eating plenty of fruits, vegetables and plant-based proteins.

Such a diet could save the planet the equivalent of 5.13 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide per year, according to a Carbon Brief analysis of data from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

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And here is a detail that is important: not all meats generate the same carbon footprint.

Chicken and turkey, for example, are also in the ranking of the 10 most harmful foods for the climate, but with a significantly lower impact than beef and lamb.

In fact, according to the University of Michigan, greenhouse gas emissions from beef are 7.2 times higher per kilogram than from chicken, for example.

Eat less dairy

It's not just meat: dairy products such as butter and cheese are also among the most damaging because of the amount of greenhouse gases emitted from their production.

Therefore, reducing your consumption can have a positive impact on your carbon footprint.

What about the milk?

Emissions from milk of animal origin are more than double those of alternatives of plant origin such as rice, soy, oat or almond milk, according to the specialized site Carbon Brief.

Of all these alternatives, almonds is the one that emits the least gases.

Dairy substitute products are growing in popularity, although they remain dwarfed by those from animal sources.

According to market research firm Euromonitor, plant-based dairy industry retail sales were estimated at $18 billion in 2020, roughly 3% of the global dairy industry.

And even giants in the food world like Nestlé are now betting on these alternatives.

That nothing ends up in the trash can: avoid waste

Food loss and waste are responsible for 8% of greenhouse gas emissions, according to the FAO.

Of course this happens at different points in the chain, from when the food is produced until it is cooked on the table.

However, there are steps we can take to reduce the waste for which we are directly responsible.

17% of all food in the world is wasted 0:56

The first one is to plan meals to buy only what we need (by the way, this is also good for the pocket).

Properly storing food and using leftovers also helps ensure that nothing ends up in the trash unnecessarily.

And another tip from the FAO: choose “ugly fruits and vegetables”.

"Don't judge food by its appearance.

Bruised or oddly shaped fruit and vegetables are often thrown away because they fail to meet arbitrary cosmetic standards.

Don't worry… the taste is the same.

Use the ripe fruit to prepare smoothies, juices and desserts, "explains the organization.

Do not choose foods that travel by plane

One of the tips that you have probably heard is to choose local products, since in this way the emissions derived from the transport of food are avoided.

To what extent are these emissions significant?

According to Our World in Data, not as much as we might imagine.

On average, transport emissions only account for 6% of the carbon footprint of food.

“In most food products, it represents less than 10%, and it is much lower in the case of the largest emitters of greenhouse gases.

In the case of beef, it is 0.5%," says the organization.

And that is why he insists that it is better to focus on what is eaten and not so much on where it comes from.

However, there is one exception: food that travels by plane.

Air transport emits 50 times more greenhouse gases than water transport, according to Our World in Data, and for this reason it does advise that you avoid them as much as possible.

It is difficult to identify them, because many times it is not indicated on the labels how they were transported.

In general, they are foods that come from far away and last very little, because otherwise they would be transported by sea.

According to the portal, asparagus (which, in fact, is classified as one of the most harmful foods for the climate in the United States), green beans and berries usually fall into the category.

Good news: avocados are not in that category!

The 5 reasons why you should consume avocado 0:51

Watch what you do before and after eating

How many single-use plastics do you use (excuse the redundancy) and discard on a daily basis when you buy and transport food?

In general, we associate the environmental impact of plastic with the waste that ends up at the bottom of the oceans.

However, single-use plastic also has a carbon footprint: according to estimates, the entire life cycle of these materials represented about 1.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions in 2019. And, if the production continues to grow like this, they could be responsible for between 5% and 10% of annual emissions of these gases by 2050. That is why taking care of the single-use plastic that we use is also important.

Look at the terrible pollution of this lake in Bolivia 3:50

And what happens after eating?

The decomposition of organic waste in landfills or landfills emits greenhouse gases.

To have a reference: according to information from the WHO, for example, the methane released by this decomposition represents about 3% of emissions in the European Union.

Therefore, recycling the organic waste that you dispose of through composting reduces the carbon footprint of food.

This practice that you can carry out at home also has other benefits: it allows you to obtain quality natural fertilizer for your plants and returns nutrients to the soil.

Brands label products showing climate impact 0:53

And finally: how to calculate your carbon footprint

Food accounts for between 10 and 30% of a home's carbon footprint, reports the University of Michigan.

There are tools that allow you to calculate the impact of your diet based on what foods you eat and how much of each on average.

Here, for example, you can check the calculator made available by The Nature Conservancy.

In addition to the carbon footprint of meals, you can also calculate the impact of your trips and purchases, among others.

Editor's Note: This article was originally published in 2021.

climate changecarbon footprint