Changes in dietary carbon footprint over ten years relative to individual characteristics and food intake in the Västerbotten Intervention Programme

Abstract

The objective was to examine 10-year changes in dietary carbon footprint relative to individual characteristics and food intake in the unique longitudinal Västerbotten intervention programme, Sweden. Here, 14 591 women and 13 347 men had been followed over time. Food intake was assessed via multiple two study visits 1996-2016, using a 64-item food frequency questionnaire. Greenhouse gas emissions (GHGE) related to food intake, expressed as kg carbon dioxide equivalents/1000 kcal and day, were estimated. Participants were classified into GHGE quintiles within sex and 10-year age group strata at both visits. Women and men changing from lowest to highest GHGE quintile exhibited highest body mass index within their quintiles at first visit, and the largest increase in intake of meat, minced meat, chicken, fish and butter and the largest decrease in intake of potatoes, rice and pasta. Women and men changing from highest to lowest GHGE quintile exhibited basically lowest rates of university degree and marriage and highest rates of smoking within their quintiles at first visit. Among these, both sexes reported the largest decrease in intake of meat, minced meat and milk, and the largest increase in intake of snacks and, for women, sweets. More research is needed on how to motivate dietary modifications to reduce climate impact and support public health. Food production and consumption generate a large proportion of greenhouse gas emissions (GHGE) globally. Estimates show that agriculture, including deforestation, is responsible for approximately 24% of anthropogenic GHGE 1 , and that food production contributes with 19-29% of GHGE globally 2. GHGE occur during all stages in the food system, from farming and its inputs to food distribution, consumption, and disposal of waste 3. The main food-related emissions include methane, nitrous oxide, and carbon dioxide. Methane is produced by ruminants, during rice farming and manure management; nitrous oxide is produced from natural processes in the nitrogen cycle in agriculture and manure management; and carbon dioxide is produced from transports and during food processing using fossil fuels 4. Food groups that produce high GHGE, i.e., have high dietary carbon footprint, include meat and dairy products. More specifically, livestock production contributes with 80% of agricultural GHGE globally 3. However, there is a gradient in GHGE per kg meat between different meats, with beef and other ruminants yielding higher GHGE compared to pork and poultry. In contrast, many plant-based foods, such as legumes and root vegetables, yield relatively low GHGE compared to animal-based foods 5. Hence, specific food choices among consumers have significant impact on total climate impact of diet and form a window for public health interventions to reduce global GHGE. To achieve the global 2 °C climate target, emissions from agriculture as well as food production and consumption must be reduced, especially in affluent societies. Recent studies have shown that even if the effectiveness of productiv...

Secular trends in diet-related greenhouse gas emission estimates since 2000 – a shift towards sustainable diets in Sweden

“…Decreases in GHGE from discretionary foods occurred in parallel with a stable prevalence of overweight and obesity. The association between overweight status and higher dietary GHGE in this study is consistent with results from a less urbanised Northern Swedish cohort (21) While longitudinal decrease in dietary GHGE was reported for cohort studies in the Netherlands (22) and Northern Sweden (23) , to our knowledge, this is the first study to document decreasing secular trends of dietary GHGE in sameaged adults compared 2001-2004 and 2014-2018. Strengths of this study include the population-based recruitment and the repeated cross-sectional design based on similar survey methodologies, together with derivation of GHGE estimates specific to the Swedish diet.…”

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