BBC Focus - 04.2020_

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ILLUSTRATION:

PAUL

BUT T

2 severalyearsnow,nutritional‘traffic

lightlabels’havebeenaddedtosome

foods.Scarboroughhasconductedresearch

intothewayUKconsumersrespondto

suchtrafficlightlabelling,buthasfound

thatit isdifficultforpeopletouse the

informationtomakedecisions.

If,forinstance,oneproducthastwo

‘greenlights’ andtwo ‘redlights’, a

consumermightlegitimatelywonder

whetherit is healthierthana rivalproduct

withone‘green’,one‘red’andtwo‘ambers’.

Likewise,a consumerstandinginthefood

aislemightfindit difficulttoquickly

workoutwhetherthecarbonfootprintof a

pre-preparedBolognesesauceis higheror

lowerthanthecarbonfootprintsassociated

witha trayof mincedbeef,anonion,some

freshbasilanda bagoffreshtomatoes.

Speakingoftomatoes,theyhighlight

anotherproblemwithcarbonfootprint

labels:apparentlyidenticalfooditemscandifferdrastically

intheircarboncosts.Lastyear,ProfAdisaAzapagicandher

colleaguesat theUniversityof Manchesterpublisheda studyon

theenvironmentalimpactofvegetableconsumptionintheUK,

includingthecarbonfootprintsthatdifferentvegetablescarry.

Azapagic’steamconcludedthatputtingonekiloofUK-grown

freshtomatoesontheBritishdiningtableproduces12.5kgCO 2 e.

Perhapssurprisingly,puttingonekiloof foreign-growntomatoes

onthetableproducesjust1.3kgCO 2 e. Theexplanationforthis,

saysAzapagic,is thattheclimateintheUKmeanstomatoesmust

begrowningreenhousesthatareheatedmainlywithelectricity.

Spanishtomatoesdon’tcarrythiscarboncostbecause tomato

plants thrive in warm Mediterranean fields.

Thisneatlypuncturesanotherpopular

misconception:thatimportedproducts

musthavea highercarboncostthanlocal

foodbecauseoftransportation.Alotof

foodistransportedbyboatsandlorries

ratherthanplanes,andinenvironmental

termsthecostof transportationis usually

tinycomparedwiththecostofactually

growingthefood.“Evenwhenyouaccount

fortransportation,theSpanishtomatostill

hasa muchlowercarbonfootprint than

the British,” says Azapagic.

VEGETATIVESTATE

So,if eatinglocalwon’tmakea difference,

whatwill?Theanswer,saysScarborough,

istoeatlessmeat.In2014,heandhis

colleaguescalculatedthecarbonfootprints

ofvariousBritishdiets.A meat-eaterdiet

releasedbetween4.7and7.2kgCO 2 e each

daydependingonhow muchmeatit

contained– thevegandietreleasedjust

2.9kgCO 2 e. Vegetariansandpeoplewho

eatfishbutnotmeatcameoutin-between:

theirdailydietsreleased 3.8kg and 3.9kg

CO 2 e r espec t ively.

Onereasonmeathassucha highcarbon

footprintisthatlivestockistypically

fedgrainthatcouldinsteadbegiven

directlytohumans.Animalsthenuse

theenergyinthatgrainforallmanner

ofprocessesincludingmaintainingbody

temperatureandkeepingtheirinternal

systems functioning. A relatively small 2

LEFTUK-growntomatoes

needtobegrownin

heatedgreenhouses.This

givesthema biggercarbon

footprintthanSpanish

tomatoesthatare

transported to the UK

“EVEN WHENYOU ACCOUNT

FOR TRANSPORTATION,

THE SPANISH TOMATOHAS

A LOWER CARBON

FOOTPRINT THAN THE

BRITISH TOMATO”