Is your cereal or mutton curry or cheeseburger contributing to climate change?
You probably wonder what your favourite meal has got to do with global warming. But before you wolf down that burger or top up the cereal, here’s a thought: you are overstressing the planet when you overindulge your food cravings or if the spread you are tucking into is not produced sustainably.
Humans need to eat to live and the earth is here to provide us with sustenance. But our modern food choices and habits of consumption are stretching the definition of ‘Eat to live’. Overproduction due to overconsumption is putting an unnecessary burden on our planet. This is besides the fact that agriculture and food production account for one-third of the world’s greenhouse emissions.
On this year’s World Environment Day [held on June 5], the global call was for conscious consumption as emphasised in its theme: “Seven Billion Dreams. One Planet. Consume with Care.”
So how much are we really contributing to carbon emissions and greenhouse gases with the food we consume?
Take cereals, for example. A bowl of cereal has an estimated carbon equivalent of 1.2kg of carbon dioxide (CO2) according to EatLowCarbon.org. The carbon equivalent takes into account the greenhouse gases emitted through the particular food product’s entire life cycle — its production, packaging and transportation, among other things.
A 4-ounce (113 gm) serving of lamb curry has a carbon equivalent of 2.1kg of CO2, while a cheeseburger produces 2.8kg of CO2. But what do these numbers mean?
The carbon equivalent of producing and preparing a bowl of lamb curry is the same as the carbon emissions of a car that drove for 7 km. That’s before we even calculate the amount of food that goes to waste.
Ivano Ianelli, CEO of the Dubai Carbon Centre of Excellence, said consciously thinking about your decisions in day-to-day living will help contribute positively to the environment.
“We need to adopt a lifestyle that consumes less — this is the key to sustainability,” Ianelli told Gulf News. “It’s a Catch 22. The more we consume, the more is produced. The more is produced, the more we use. And then more will be produced,” he added.
The UAE is third in the list of countries with the largest ecological footprints, or highest level of consumption per person.
Ianelli said a UAE resident’s carbon footprint is based on the concept of demand-side management, which monitors the demand in terms of a number of areas, including energy and travel.
Choosing to travel less by air will certainly help. Car travel should also be done consciously, Ianelli said. “Speaking about food and emissions, meat, dairy products and general food imports are a major source of people’s carbon footprints given that food is being transported over thousands of miles,” he said.
“Encouraging consumers to use less, consume less and waste less, is key to supporting the move to becoming more sustainable. And I think we are making more and more of an impact!”
By Janice Ponce de Leon
