Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Original Article
  • Published:

Evaluating the environmental impact of various dietary patterns combined with different food production systems

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 61, pages 279–286 (2007)Cite this article

Abstract

Objective:

Recent studies support the hypothesis that plant-based diets are environmentally better than meat-based diets. This study aims to further explore this topic and to compare different environmental impacts resulting from different dietary patterns (omnivorous, vegetarian, vegan) and methods of production (conventional farming and organic agriculture).

Design:

Three weekly balanced diets, equivalent to one another for energetic and nutrient content, have been planned: an omnivorous one, a vegetarian one and a vegan one. For each one, the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) method has been applied in order to calculate the environmental impact, expressed in ‘points’.

Interventions:

The software we selected to carry out the Inventory Analysis and the Impact Assessment is SimaPro5. The Assessment phase has been conducted using Ecoindicator 99, a damage-oriented method, which analyses the impact according to three large damage categories, each of them subsuming various impact categories.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Aghina C, Maletto S (1979). Tecnica Mangimistica (Feeding technique) Ed. Esculapio (in Italian) Bologna: Italy.

    Google Scholar 

  • ANPA (2000). I rifiuti del comparto agricolo (Agricultural wastes) RTI CTN_RIF (in Italian), Italy.

  • Baldoni R, Giardini L (2002). Coltivazioni Erbacee: Foraggiere e Tappeti Erbosi (Herbaceous cultivations: fodder and grass) Pàtron Editore (in Italian) Bologna: Italy.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baldoni R, Giardini L (2002a). Coltivazioni Erbacee: Cereali e Proteaginose (Herbaceous cultivations: cereals and oleaginous) Pàtron Editore (in Italian) Bologna: Italy.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baldoni R, Giardini L (2002b). Coltivazioni Erbacee: Piante oleifere da zucchero, da fibra, orticole e aromatiche (Herbaceous cultivations: sugar roots, starchy vegetables, vegetables, aromatic plants) Pàtron Editore (in Italian) Bologna: Italy.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barnard ND (1994). Food for Life: How the New Four Food Groups Can Save Your Life. Crown Pub.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beeton R (2003). Sustainably managing food production resources to maximise human nutritional benefit. Asia Pac J Clin Nutr 12 (Suppl), S50.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cederberg C (1998). Life Cycle Assessment of Milk Production SIK-Report No. 643, SIK. The Swedish Institute for Food and Biotechnology: Sweden.

    Google Scholar 

  • Conso P (1992). Alimentazione ed alimenti per il bestiame (Feeding and feed for farm animals) Ed. Edagricole (in Italian) Bologna: Italy.

    Google Scholar 

  • CORINAIR (1996). The EMEP/CORINAIR Atmospheric Emission Inventory Guidebook. European Environment Agency: Denmark.

  • Cowell SJ, Fairman R, Lofstedt RE (2002). Use of risk assessment and life cycle assessment in decision making: a common policy research agenda. Risk Anal 22, 879–894.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Denslow J, Padoch C (1988). People of the Tropical Rainforest. University of California Press: Berkeley. p. 169.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ekvall T, Weidema BP (2004). System Boundaries and Input Data in Consequential Life Cycle Inventory Analysis. Int J Life Cycle Assess 9 (3), 161–171.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Environmental management – Life Cycle Assessment (1997–2000). ISO series 14040. International Organization Standardization.

  • Euromeat (2001): http://www.pubit.it/sunti/euc0106l.html(Accessed 12 June 2004).

  • Eurostat (2000): http://www.cso.ie/releasespublications/documents/agriculture/current/meatsup.pdf(Accessed 20 June 2004).

  • FAO (2001). Food Balance Sheet. http://apps.fao.org/(Accessed 11 May 2004).

  • Fox MA (1999). The contribution of vegetarianism to ecosystem health. Ecosyst Health 5, 70–74.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frees N (1998). Life Cycle Assessment on Packaging System for Beer and Soft drinks Technical Report No. 7: Energy and Transport Scenarios, Chalmers Industrial Technology, Sweden and Institute for Product Development: Denmark.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fukuoka M (2001). La Fattoria Biologica: agricoltura secondo natura (Organic farming: natural agriculture) Ed. Mediterranee (in Italian) Roma: Italy.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goedkoop M, Oele M. (2001). Introduction into LCA Methodology and Practice with SimaPro 5. PRé Consultants: Amersfoort. pp 55.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goedkoop M, Spriensma R (2000). The Eco-Indicator 99, A Damage Oriented Method for Life Cycle Assessment Methodology Report, 2nd edn. PRé Consultants: Amersfoort, pp 55.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gussow JD (1978). The Feeding Web: Issues in Nutriotional Ecology. Bull Publishing Co. Inc.: Palo Alto, CA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gussow JD (1994). Ecology and vegetarian consideration: does environmental responsibility demand the elimination of livestock? Am J Clin Nutr 59 (Suppl), 1110S–1116S.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Høgass Eide M., Ohlsson T (1998). A comparison of two different approaches to inventory analysis of diaries. Int J LCA 3, 209–215.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Høgass Eide M (2002). Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of industrial milk production. Int J Life Cycle Assess 7, 115–126.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Imhoff ML, Bounoua L, Ricketts T, Loucks C, Harriss R, Lawrence WT (2004). Global patterns in human consumption of net primary production. Nature 429, 870–873.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kaimowitz D, Mertens B, Wunder S, Pacheco P (2003). Hamburger Connection Fuels Amazon Destruction. Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), April.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leitzmann C (2003). Nutrition ecology: the contribution of vegetarian diets. Am J Clin Nutr 78 (Suppl), 657S–659S.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Matthews HS, Lave L, MacLean H (2002). Life cycle impact assessment: a challenge for risk analysts. Risk Anal 22, 853–860.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mattoni L (2000). Ottimizzazione della gestione integrata dei rifiuti solidi urbani ed assimilabili, ENEA. National Institute for Energy and Environment. (in Italian) Roma: Italy.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moriconi E (1997). Nutrirsi tutti, inquinando meno (Food for everyone, with less pollution). Regione Piemonte, Assessorato Tutela Ambientale. (in Italian).

    Google Scholar 

  • Moriconi E (2001). Le fabbriche degli animali: ‘mucca pazza’ e dintorni (Animal factories: ‘mad cow’ and neighbouring). Ed. Cosmopolis: Torino. (in Italian).

    Google Scholar 

  • Pimentel D, Bailey O, Kim P, Mullaney E, Calabrese J, Walman L et al. (1999). Will limits of the earth's resources control human numbers? Environ Dev Sustain 1, 19–39.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pimentel D, Houser J, Preiss E, White O, Fang H, Mesnick L et al. (1997). Water resources: agriculture, the environment, and society – an assessment of the status of water resources. Bioscience 47 (2), 97–106.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pimentel D, Pimentel M (1993). World population, food, natural resources and survival. World Futures 59, 145–167.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pimentel D, Pimentel M (1999). Population growth, environmental resources and global food. J Sustain Forests 9, 35–44.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pimentel D, Pimentel M (2000). To improve nutrition for the world's population. Science 288, 1966–1967.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pimentel D, Pimentel M (2003). Sustainability of meat-based and plant-based diets and the environment. Am J Clin Nutr 78 (Suppl), 660S–663S.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rebitzer G, Ekvall T, Frischknecht R, Hunkeler D, Norris G, Rydberg T et al. (2004). Life cycle assessment: framework, goal and scope definition, inventory analysis, and applications. Environ Int 30, 701–720.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Reijnders L, Soret S (2003). Quantification of the environmental impact of different dietary protein choices. Am J Clin Nutr 78 (Suppl), 664S–668S.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Renault D, Wallender WW (2000). Nutritional Water Productivity and Diets. Agric Water Manage 45, 275–296.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rojstaczer S, Sterling SM, Moore NJ (2001). Human appropriation of photosynthesis products. Science 294, 2549–2552.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Spitzmüller E-M, Schönfelder-Pflug K, Leitzmann C (1993). Ernährungsökologie: Essen zwischen Genuss und Verantwortung. (Nutrition ecology: eating between relish and responsibility). Haug: Heidelberg, Germany. (in German).

    Google Scholar 

  • UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Division for Sustainable Development (2004). Indicators of Sustainable Development: Framework and Methodologies December.http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/natlinfo/indicators/indisd/english/chapt12e.htm(accessed March 2005).

  • Watanabe T (1989). Il libro della soia (The Soy Book) Ed. Mediterranee (in Italian) Roma: Italy.

    Google Scholar 

  • World Health Organization (1996). Micronutrient malnutrition – half of the world's population affected. World Health Organ 78, 1–4.

  • World Health Organization (2000). Turning the Tide of Malnutrition: Responding to the challenge of the 21st Century. World Health Organization: Geneva.

  • World Watch Institute (2004). State of the World 2004 WWI Report.

  • World Wildlife Fund (1997). The year the world caught fire Report WWF, December.

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank Paul Appleby (Senior Statistician, Cancer Epidemiology Unit, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK) for his expert suggestions on the drafts of this paper and Raffaella Ravasso (ATRA Documentation Center, Lugano, Switzerland) for her analytic assistance. None of the authors had any conflict of interest.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurorehabilitation, Villa Salus Hospital, Mestre-Venice, Italy

    L Baroni

  2. Nutrition and Dietetic Service, S Bortolo Hospital, Vicenza, Italy

    L Cenci

  3. ATRA Documentation Center, Lugano, Switzerland

    M Tettamanti

  4. SaiCosaMangi.info Project, AgireOra Edizioni Association, Torino, Italy

    M Berati

Authors
  1. L Baroni
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. L Cenci
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. M Tettamanti
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. M Berati
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to M Tettamanti.

Additional information

Guarantor: M Tettamanti.

Contributors: MT set up the study and with the aid of MB, analysed the data and wrote the paper. LC set up the meal planning and LB provided significant consultation and helped in the writing and reviewing of the paper.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Baroni, L., Cenci, L., Tettamanti, M. et al. Evaluating the environmental impact of various dietary patterns combined with different food production systems. Eur J Clin Nutr 61, 279–286 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejcn.1602522

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejcn.1602522

Keywords

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links