byC O L I N
BARRAS
Colinis a freelance
sciencewriterand
editor,basednear Ann
ILLUSTR ATION: PAUL BUT T Arbor,Michigan.
CARBON-FREE DIET FE ATURE
of smoking. With more awareness about the time and energy
that goes into producing food, we might be more willing to turn
stale bread into breadcrumbs, or overripe bananas into banana
muffins. Or we might simply become better at purchasing
just the food we need, rather than bulk-buying products and
throwing food away.
Scarborough agrees that attitudinal shifts to food are possible.
“People assume food habits are stuck for life, that people
don’t change – but it’s absolutely not true,” he explains. “If
you look at the food we consume now versus 60 years ago it’s
very different.”
Consumers should be able to adopt lower-meat diets and waste
less food, not least because this is what most British people
have done for centuries. So if we can make those changes, will
it bring the zero-carbon diet into view? In one sense, the answer
is a firm no: we will always need to use
energy to produce even the most frugal of
diets. But eventually it may be possible to
offset most – or even all – of the emissions
associated with our food, particularly if
more of us reduce our meat consumption.
This is partly because with less demand
for pasture it will be possible to ‘rewild’
agricultural land, and an acre of forest can
absorb far more carbon than an acre of
pasture. No one has run the numbers, but
it’s an intriguing idea, says Scarborough.
“The question of whether the food system
as a whole can be zero-carbon over the
long run? That’s an interesting one.”
33kg
driving
137km
heating
a home
for
5 days
or
Tofu
(100g)
115kg
driving
476km
heating
a home
for
18 days
or
Eggs
(2)
284kg
driving
1,168km
heating
a home
for
45 days
or
Chicken
(1 breast)
390kg
driving
1,603km
heating
a home
for
61 days
or
Fish
(1 fillet)
375kg
driving
1,540km
heating
a home
for
59 days
or
Pork
(75g)
1,611kg
driving
6,618km
heating
a home
for
255 days
or
Beef
(75g)
29kg
driving
120km
heating
a home
for
4 days
or
Almond milk
(200ml)
40kg
driving
167km
heating
a home
for
6 days
or
Soy milk
(200ml)
131kg
driving
538km
heating
a home
for
20 days
or
Cow’s milk
(200ml)
Proteins Dairy