Want to reduce your impact on climate change? Consider changing the way you farm and the way you eat. According to a recent study, “Food production is a major cause of energy use and GHG emissions, and therefore diet change is an important behavioural strategy for reducing associated environmental impacts.”
When making choices of which foods to buy, consumers are willing to consider the greenhouse gas emissions produced during the food’s production, according to a recent study. If provided with clear labels showing the relative impact of different products, people will change their consumption patterns and buy the products with the lower impact (i.e., more cans of vegetable soup compared to vegetable beef soup).
The problem, however, is that the general public has a poor grasp of how their actions lead to greenhouse gas emissions. The people surveyed overestimated the emissions produced by household appliances and underestimated the impact of their food choices. They did however, understand the relative impact of various foods — such as beef having a greater carbon footprint than an apple. The study did not consider how people’s choices were influenced by different farming or food distribution practices (e.g., organic vs non-organic, grass-fed vs feedlot, local vs imported).
Source: Adrian R. Camilleri, Richard P. Larrick, Shajuti Hossain and Dalia Patino-Echeverri. Consumers underestimate the emissions associated with food but are aided by labels. Nature Climate Change. January 2019. Volume 9, pages 53–58.