How Sustainable are my Groceries?
Three years ago, I turned vegetarian. My decision was prompted by the health benefits of avoiding animal protein, such as reduced risk of heart disease. Also, being a keen runner, I noted how many running vloggers were vegan. So, in the interest of pursuing a personal best, I took the plunge.
I was also concerned with the downsides of the diet, so I made adjustments by using a plant-based protein in my daily smoothie and taking supplements such as vitamins B12 and D.
I was delighted that there were no adverse effects with my running, and I continued to clock improved half marathon times and this year, I completed my first marathon. In addition, I was able to shake that lingering trace of belly fat.
Overall, I am happy with my lifestyle change. In fact, it is one of the easiest changes I made. There are no cravings for meat products, and I feel no social pressure to convert back to a conventional diet. This is unlike procrastinating less and reducing social media consumption which are compulsions I continue to struggle with.
At the beginning of my vegetarian journey, I had limited awareness of the effects of animal agriculture on the environment. I heard of cow farts, land use and that in general eating a plant-based diet was better for the environment.
Over the past 36 months I have gradually acquired more knowledge through reading books, watching documentaries, and scanning through science articles. These sources break down the environmental impact of food items into four main areas:
Emissions: The amount of Carbon Dioxide, Methane and Nitrous Oxide emitted as a result of bringing a food product to our table. These gases have different lifespans in which they live in our environment. For instance, Carbon Dioxide is long-lived, remaining in our atmosphere for hundreds of years. In contrast, Methane is more potent but short-lived, being able to clear from our atmosphere in little over a decade. To balance the potency and longevity of greenhouses gases, total emissions are collectively quoted in CO2 equivalents.
Emissions result from the growing produce, including the emissions associated with growing animal feed or producing fertilizer. In addition, emissions from processing the food product, transporting it and selling it are also counted. Transports accounts for a small proportion of emissions, less than 1%.
Water Usage: The amount of water necessary to produce 1kg of a particular food. Given that that fresh water can be considered a scarce resource, with droughts and shortages common in many areas of the world. Water usage can be considered an important factor especially as the earth warms in the coming years.
Sustainability: The amount of land needed to be cleared for farming. In addition, how harmful is the effect of growing the produce is to our biodiversity. For instance, intensely farmed monocrops using chemical fertilizers is particularly deleterious to soil quality, leaving it nutrient deficient with little or no time to recover between harvests. This has harmful effects to surrounding environment.
Packaging: End of life disposal of the commercial packaging of the food product. How recyclable the consumer packaging is, as well as the emissions associated with packaging production. Packaging emissions account for a very small percentage of the overall food production emissions. Therefore, in another article I will investigate further the impact of packaging.
Armed with the knowledge about the main sources of environmental and resource impact of our food. I thought I would try an experiment and work out the carbon and resource footprint of my weekly grocery shop. So, off I went to Whole Foods and on my return, I logged each item I purchased.
Finding out the Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Water Usages, and Sustainability of each item was difficult. I investigated scientific articles and was able to find CO2e (Carbon Dioxide Equivalent) and Water Usages for common items such as bananas and oranges. But the list was far from comprehensive. It wasn’t until I stumbled upon the website healabel.com that I struck gold. I cross-referenced their figures for a number of common food items with scientific literature and found that they agreed, hence it became my primary source.
Therefore, after much digging around I was able to come up with my comprehensive list, shown in the table below*.
There were a number of limitations to my investigation. The main one being the difficulty to estimate the impact of multi-ingredient items. For the purposes of the study, I used the main ingredient in my estimations.
Looking at my overall impact, my weekly shop consumed 11kg CO2e and 14000 liters of water. Comparing this with just 1kg of Beef, I would have consumed 63kg CO2 and 15000 liters of water with this one item.
In order for global temperatures to rise less than 2°C by 2050, it is estimated that the average carbon footprint per person needs to be under 3 tons per year. Considering, that my weekly shop only contributed a portion of overall food consumption on a weekly basis. I doubled the CO2e to 22kg, multiplying this figure by 52 equals 1.1metric tons per annum.
Even with a vegetarian diet, I am consuming a third of my carbon footprint, just on food. If I take 1 ton and give it to society for Energy Generation, Public Services, etc. This leaves me with 1 ton left for other uses such as personal transportation and clothing.
Considering a flight from San Francisco, where I currently live to London, capital of my home country emits 1.7 tons per person. This highlights what a challenge reaching 3 tons of CO2e actually is for each and every one us.
Using current technology, we would need to be deriving all our energy from renewable sources, eating a vegetarian diet, not flying and driving electric cars.
This exercise also showed me the importance of buying organic. I originally thought the benefits were entirely personal, with regard to not having to consume chemical pesticides. However, production of these chemical fertilizers emits CO2.
Therefore, buying organic can limit the amount of CO2 per person further. And is especially important when buying multi-ingredient items, as you known the impact of that product has been minimized, without actually knowing the source and amount of each ingredient.
In addition, organic produce is less harmful to biodiversity. For instance, Non-organically farmed banana’s use a lot of agrochemicals and banana plantations clear land to create space to farm banana’s intensely. Both of which effect soil quality, biodiversity loss, deterioration in the local environment and increased emissions compared to farming organically.
Overall, it is clear that living sustainably with today’s technology will require both personal sacrifice and change at a social level. From a social standpoint, the type of energy we use in food production and how we farm the produce is key to minimizing our environmental impact. And these are choices we can make by shopping organically and minimizing the amount of animal protein we consume.
However, it is clear we need to look at other areas of our life. Turning vegetarian was one of the easiest behavioral changes I made. However, limiting my air travel is personally a lot more challenging. I believe the places I have been has provided me with an open-minded approach to life. But at what cost, and what sacrifice am I willing to make going forward?
Life presents us with many challenges, and these challenges are different for each one of us. We should respect the other persons struggle, whatever that is.
*Tea/Coffee Items were estimated to be ~5% of the purchased item, with water taking up the majority of the packaged content.