Food production is an important source of greenhouse gas emissions, particularly as the rapidly growing world population increases the demand for food. Emissions vary considerably across food types and production techniques. Consequently, changing food consumption patterns have the potential to significantly reduce emissions.
Sylvia Vetter from the University of Aberdeen, UK, and co-authors compared the greenhouse gas emissions of major crops (for example, wheat and rice) and livestock-based products (for example, mutton) in India. They found mutton and rice were among the main sources of greenhouse gas emissions per kilogram of product, with rice emissions much more relevant because of the large presence of rice in Indian cuisine and the resultant large-scale production.
This suggests that a change in culinary customs and agricultural production decisions could have a significant impact on the emissions level. For example, a hypothetical reduction of rice production by 50% — compensated for with a corresponding increase of other cereals, such as wheat — could reduce the greenhouse gas emissions by around 17%. The application of these findings could lead to mitigation policies that are compatible with increasing food demands in India.
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Graffeo, M. Mitigation through food. Nature Clim Change 7, 236 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate3269
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate3269
