Climate change: Using food carbon footprints to reduce greenhouse gases and energy use

The food system consumes a significant amount of energy in the United States and produces considerable greenhouse gases (GHGs) that create a sizeable “food carbon footprint.” This presentation will summarize findings from an international food, energy and carbon footprint symposium convened by UC Davis in October 2007 as well as subsequent research using a life cycle assessment framework (LCA) to identify “hot spots” in the food system from “farm to fork.” In addition to the critical issues identified in the symposium, preliminary results of an LCA study on a particular commodity (either tomatoes or rice) will demonstrate the benefits of this methodology. Finally, we will discuss how this research might be used by the food service industry, natural foods industry or consumers to change behaviors to reduce their carbon footprints.