Popular diets as selected by adults in the United States show wide variation in carbon footprints and diet quality

O’Malley, Keelia; Willits-Smith, Amelia; Rose, Donald

doi:10.1016/j.ajcnut.2023.01.009

Cited by 20 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…Recently, others have demonstrated that, among healthy vegetarian diet patterns, higher diet quality was associated with lower GHGE; but the same was not observed for unhealthy vegetarian diet patterns (19). In other studies, keto (≤50 g net carbohydrates) and paleo (<0.5 oz.-equivalents of grains and legumes and < 0.25 cup-equivalents of dairy) diet patterns were associated with higher GHGE and lower diet quality than some but not all plant-based diet patterns (20). Recently, others showed that plant-based diet patterns were associated with lower GHGE but their diet quality and cost were similar to other diet patterns (21).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 85%

Greater adherence to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans is associated with lower diet-related greenhouse gas emissions but higher costs

Conrad

Drewnowski

2023

Front. Nutr.

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IntroductionFew studies have evaluated the sustainability of popular diet patterns in the US, which limits policy action and impedes consumer efficacy to make sustainable dietary changes. This study filled this gap by evaluating the relationship between diet quality, greenhouse gas emissions (GHGE), and diet cost for plant-based, restricted carbohydrate, low grain, low fat, and time restricted diet patterns.MethodsDietary data were retrieved from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2011–2018, n = 8,146) and linked with data on GHGE and food prices from publicly available databases. Diet quality was measured using the Healthy Eating Index-2015. The present study (1) compared the mean diet quality, GHGE, and diet cost between diet patterns, (2) evaluated the association of diet quality to GHGE and diet cost for each diet pattern, and (3) estimated the contribution of food sources to GHGE and diet cost for each diet pattern.ResultsHigher diet quality was associated with lower GHGE for the general population and for most diet patterns (p < 0.01) except for the plant-based and time restricted diet patterns (p > 0.05). Higher diet quality was associated with higher cost for the general population and for all dietary patterns (p < 0.01) except the time restricted diet pattern (p > 0.05). Protein foods, mostly beef, accounted for the largest share of GHGE (29–40%) and diet cost (28–47%) for all diet patterns except plant-based.DiscussionHigher diet quality was associated with lower GHGE but was often accompanied by higher diet cost. These sustainability trade-offs can help inform major policy discussions in the US and shed light on further research needs in the area of food systems transformation.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 85%

Greater adherence to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans is associated with lower diet-related greenhouse gas emissions but higher costs

Conrad

Drewnowski

2023

Front. Nutr.

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“…The survey sample consists of 13.4% vegans and 21% vegetarians (panel B), which is considerably higher than in the wider population of Germany (3.1% and 6.9%, respectively) and the United States (0.7% and 7.0%, respectively; Veganz [2022], O'Malley et al. [2023]). Respondents, who typically dined in groups of three, were on average highly satisfied with their canteen meals (panels C and F).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

How Does Carbon Footprint Information Affect Consumer Choice? A Field Experiment

BEYER,

CHASKEL,

EULER

et al. 2023

J of Accounting Research

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This paper reports the results of a field experiment investigating how attributes of carbon footprint information affect consumer choice in a large dining facility. Our hypotheses and research methods were pre‐registered via the Journal of Accounting Research’s registration‐based editorial process. Manipulating the measurement units and visualizations of carbon footprint information on food labels, we quantify effects on consumers’ food choices. Treated consumers choose less carbon‐intensive dishes, reducing their food‐related carbon footprint by up to 9.2 %, depending on the treatment. Effects are strongest for carbon footprint information expressed in monetary units (‘environmental costs’) and color‐coded in the familiar traffic‐light scheme. A post‐experimental survey shows that these effects obtain although respondents, on average, self‐report low concern for the environmental footprint of their meal choices. Our study contributes to the accounting literature by using an information processing framework to shed light on the information usage and decision‐making processes of an increasingly important user group of accounting information: consumers.This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved

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“…Unfortunately, systematic review collecting harmonized data on diet-related environmental impact across different populations are lacking, and current data are heterogeneous. For example, single studies indicate for the omnivore US adult population a mean CF of 2.23 kg CO2 eq./1000 kcal ( O'Malley et al, 2023 ), for the Brazilian population 2.39 kg CO2 eq./1000 kcal ( Garzillo et al, 2021 ), for the Danish population 2.00 kg CO2 eq./1000 kcal ( Trolle et al, 2022 ), and for the Italian population 1.60 kg CO2 eq./1000 kcal ( Rosi et al, 2017 ). In this study, for the 2500 kcal MED_EAT-IT dietary pattern we calculated a CF of 1.10 kg CO2 eq./1000 kcal, thus corresponding to a reduction of 31.3% of current CF when shifting from a 2500 kcal habitual Italian diet to an isocaloric MED_EAT-IT dietary pattern.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The MED_EAT-IT approach: A modelling study to develop feasible, sustainable and nutritionally targeted dietary patterns based on the Planetary health diet

Tucci,

Martini,

Vinelli

et al. 2024

Current Research in Food Science

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Popular diets as selected by adults in the United States show wide variation in carbon footprints and diet quality

Cited by 20 publications

References 41 publications

Greater adherence to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans is associated with lower diet-related greenhouse gas emissions but higher costs

Greater adherence to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans is associated with lower diet-related greenhouse gas emissions but higher costs

How Does Carbon Footprint Information Affect Consumer Choice? A Field Experiment

The MED_EAT-IT approach: A modelling study to develop feasible, sustainable and nutritionally targeted dietary patterns based on the Planetary health diet

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