If you are thinking of ways on how to reduce food carbon footprint, avoiding meat is the first thing that needs to be done as per most research studies. Food carbon footprint or foodprint requires immediate attention as growing, rearing, processing and transporting and disposing of food leaves behind food carbon footprint which is harmful.All food carbon emissions are reported to include major greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide.

Greenhouse gas emissions result from the production and transportation of food. Growing of food requires fertilizers which are mostly chemical based and transportation of food requires use petroleum-based fuel. Given below are some helpful tips on how to reduce food carbon footprint to save the Earth.

TIPS ON HOW TO REDUCE FOOD CARBON FOOTPRINT

When it comes to ways on how to reduce food carbon footprint choosing a vegan diet over meat and eggs is one of he best ways of doing.

• Consume whole grains, beans, pulses, fruits and vegetables, and avoid excess consumption of eggs, dairy and meat products.
• Choose the stove top (cooking gas) over other electric cooking appliances for cooking, such as induction and electric oven.
• Choose the microwave oven over other electric appliances as it uses 50 per cent less energy.
• Consume organic products. Organic farming methods are much more environment-friendly than other conventional farming methods.
• Avoid stocking a lot of food products. It is always recommended to discard the food product if it has surpassed its expiry date. Mostly, some of the stocked food items expire before usage and are discarded. Overstocking will reduce food wastage.
• Avoid consumption of tertiary processed foods (even vegetarian food items). For this you can check the food label – a longer list of ingredients generally suggests that the food item is heavily processed and it may therefore have a high carbon footprint.
• Avoid consumption of frozen foods. Frozen food has the highest carbon footprint, followed by canned, plastic, glass and then cardboard.
• Avoid products that use a lot of packaging.
• Limit the consumption of bottled water. This will limit the usage of plastic and will ultimately help in slowing down global warming.
• In any case, reduce your personal water consumption by practising water conservation in your daily life.
• Wherever possible, shop local. Know where your food comes from – if it is from the other side of the world, it will have a high transportation footprint. Also, as the distance the food travels decreases, so does the need for processing and refrigeration to reduce spoilage.

Changing the foods that we eat can have a big impact on the carbon footprint. It can reduce pollution, preserve the environment and slow global warming. Many of these changes will also save money, improve health and even keep us fit besides ofcourse reducing food carbon footprint!