Carbon footprint as an instrument for enhancing food quality: overview of the wine, olive oil and cereals sectors

Abstract

The quantification of greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions represents a critical issue for the future development of agro-food produces. Consumers' behaviour could play an important role in requiring environmental performance as an essential element for food quality. Nowadays, the carbon footprint (CFP) is a tool used worldwide by agro-food industries to communicate environmental information. This paper aims to investigate the role that CFP could have in consumers' choices in three significant agro-food sectors in the Mediterranean area: wine, olive oil and cereals. A critical review about the use of CFP was carried out along the supply chain of these three sectors, in order to identify opportunities for enhancing food quality and environmental sustainability and highlighting how environmental information could influence consumers' preferences. The analysis of the state of the art shows a great variability of the results about GHG emissions referred to agricultural and industrial processes. In many cases, the main environmental criticisms are linked to the agricultural phase, but the other phases of the supply chain could also contribute to the increased CFP. However, despite the wide use of CFP by companies as a communication tool to help consumers' choices in agro-food products, some improvements are needed in order to provide clearer and more understandable information. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry.

Visible Near Infrared Spectroscopy as a Green Technology: An Environmental Impact Comparative Study on Olive Oil Analyses

“…With the intention to relate the impact of the analysis method to the olive oil product, Pattara et al [40] helped to identify a medium value with which correlate the impact of the analyses. Considering (i) an average of 13.32 kg of CO 2 eq per liter of olive oil produced and packaged (from the farm to the disposal), (ii) 5.82 kg of CO 2 eq derived from the chemical analyses performed on olive oil samples, and (iii) 0.14 kg of CO 2 eq derived from the optical analyses, this shows the high importance of the size of the chosen sample of olive oil.…”

Sustainability evaluation of a Portuguese “terroir” wine

“…Other studies considered only specific indicators, especially the carbon footprint (CF) and the water footprints (WF) [28][29][30]. Extensive reviews on the application of the carbon footprint concept to wine production can be found in the literature [32][33][34][35]. Both indicators are directly linked to various key aspects of wine production such as energy consumption, land management and transportation related to the CF, and water usage for the WF.…”

Life Cycle Assessment of Two Vineyards after the Application of Precision Viticulture Techniques: A Case Study

“…Bosco et al (2011) concluded that the planting of vine trees and trellis systems contributed significantly to the GHG emissions when the system starts from scratch. Additionally, intensive production practices tend to produce larger amounts of GHG [22,24,25]. Mitigation strategies for GHG emissions from viticulture production can be identified by inventorying and reporting the PCF through LCA, taking into consideration emissions, material, and energy inputs [24,26,27].…”

“…Additionally, intensive production practices tend to produce larger amounts of GHG [22,24,25]. Mitigation strategies for GHG emissions from viticulture production can be identified by inventorying and reporting the PCF through LCA, taking into consideration emissions, material, and energy inputs [24,26,27]. Previous research has established that organic fertilization leads to substantial savings in GHG emissions [28][29][30].…”

“…Previous research has established that organic fertilization leads to substantial savings in GHG emissions [28][29][30]. Another key point to mitigate viticulture GHG emissions is the use of cultivars already adapted to local conditions that require less inputs [24,31] and the reduction of energy requirements in a vineyard that are affected by size, topography, degree of mechanisation, and end-use of the grapes [31,32]. Currently, viticulture is gradually shifting to more sustainable production patterns [33], with an increase of 230% of organic vineyards in Europe between 2007 and 2011 [34].…”