Carbon Footprints of food: a critical reflection

Agriculture emits about 14 % of global anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. In Germany this share is about 7 %, without consideration of imported feedstuff, the production of farm inputs and land use changes such as forest clearing and the drainage of peaty soils. The total emissions of food production in Germany including processing, transport and distribution are between 16 to 22 %. In consequence, a critical public discussion and the demand for emission reduction in the whole value added chain arises. The calculation of the product-related emissions of food (carbon footprint) indicates important emission sources that are used to detect potentials of reduction. The calculated emissions of milk, meat and cereals vary greatly in the present literature mainly due to different reference systems of the studies and the chosen system boundaries. Some studies compare different agricultural production systems and focus only on parts of the value added chain, while other surveys consider the whole life cycle form cradle to grave. Accordingly, the range of results per unit (kg of CO2 equivalents kg of product) is large. However, the most important emission sources can be derived and options of regulation can be identified. Climate-friendly consumption patterns could be induced by providing advice and guidance to consumers (e.g. reduction of meat consumption and consumption of seasonal food products) and labelling of food products. However, the level of greenhouse gas emissions from food consumption depends on a large number of different factors which makes it often difficult to derive general conclusions.