https://phys.org/news/2019-12-high-carbo...weets.html
Families with higher carbon footprints are likely to consume more confectionary, alcohol and restaurant food, according to a new study published in One Earth.
Considering the spectrum of traditional to urban lifestyles across Japan, researchers at the University of Sheffield and the Research Institute for Humanity and Nature in Kyoto, Japan, analysed the carbon footprints of the diets of 60,000 households across Japan's 47 regions. Using a life-cycle approach which details food supply chains around the country, they found that meat consumption was relatively constant per household—but carbon footprints were not.
The study shows that meat consumption could explain less than 10 per cent of the difference seen in carbon footprints between Japanese families. Instead, households with higher carbon footprints tended to consume more food from restaurants, as well as more vegetables and fish. However, it was the level of consumption of sweets and alcohol—two to three times higher than families with low carbon footprints—that really stood out.
I have to admit... I'm pretty skeptical of the whole "Sweets are more environmentally damaging than meat" conclusion, for three main reasons:
Maybe they did account for some of these considerations - but, I'd like to see whether or not further studies do confirm this (and find clear evidence of causation, rather than mere correlation).
Families with higher carbon footprints are likely to consume more confectionary, alcohol and restaurant food, according to a new study published in One Earth.
Considering the spectrum of traditional to urban lifestyles across Japan, researchers at the University of Sheffield and the Research Institute for Humanity and Nature in Kyoto, Japan, analysed the carbon footprints of the diets of 60,000 households across Japan's 47 regions. Using a life-cycle approach which details food supply chains around the country, they found that meat consumption was relatively constant per household—but carbon footprints were not.
The study shows that meat consumption could explain less than 10 per cent of the difference seen in carbon footprints between Japanese families. Instead, households with higher carbon footprints tended to consume more food from restaurants, as well as more vegetables and fish. However, it was the level of consumption of sweets and alcohol—two to three times higher than families with low carbon footprints—that really stood out.
I have to admit... I'm pretty skeptical of the whole "Sweets are more environmentally damaging than meat" conclusion, for three main reasons:
- The study found that meat consumption was relatively constant across families... so, I don't see how they could draw any meaningful conclusions on the environmental impact of the meat .
- The study was limited to Japan. The environmental impact of any food is going to be highly geography-dependent: any food is going to be more environmentally friendly in places where it's produced locally, and less environmentally friendly in places where it has to be shipped in from halfway around the world. Just because a food is environmentally damaging in Japan doesn't mean it will be the same in the USA or the UK, for example.
- Did they even show anything more than a correlation here? If not, then it might just be that wealthier families tend to have higher carbon footprints, and also tend to spend more on luxuries (like sweets and restaurant food). That doesn't mean the sweets are causing the higher carbon footprint: it may well be that there's some third factor here that's causing both.
Maybe they did account for some of these considerations - but, I'd like to see whether or not further studies do confirm this (and find clear evidence of causation, rather than mere correlation).
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