Food
Food
This section covers only the food that you eat - either as an individual or as a household. Drink is not included but typically makes up a small fraction of our "food" footprint.
The emissions estimate given is for food from "farm to fork" and includes packaging and transport to the supermarket.
The data we use for estimating the carbon footprint of your food comes from a study conducted by Dr Peter Scarborough of Oxford University called "Dietary greenhouse gas emissions of meat-eaters, fish-eaters, vegetarians and vegans in the UK" (available here). Although the study was based on data from the UK it is broadly applicable enough that the results can give you an idea of your carbon footprint from food wherever you are.
The study breaks meat-eaters up into three categories:
| High meat-eater | More than 100g per day |
| Medium meat-eater | Between 50g and 100g per day |
| Low meat-eater | Less than 50g per day |
Some average weights:
- Quarter pounder burger - 227g
- Rump steak - 200g
- Lamb chop - 150g
- Chicken drumstick - 85g
- Pork sausage - 60g
Even within the UK there are many factors that can affect your food carbon footprint. For example:
- Food that is bought locally will typically (but not always) have a smaller footprint than food that comes from abroad.
- Produce that is "in season" will have a smaller footprint than "out of season" produce because it will usually have been produced in the country where it will be consumed - so it will travel less.
- Different supermarkets have different supply chains and those supply chains will have different carbon footprints depending on how efficient they are and where the supermarket sources goods.
- How far you travel to buy food - your carbon footprint from getting your food home isn't included here, but should come under "On the ground" tab.
Quick Tip: If different people in your household do different things for their meals and you want to include them, add the current food footprint to your footprint and then you can return to this page and add more food footprints - one for each person.