If your carbon footprint has you munching through more hectares a year than a body has a right to, it might be time to stop worrying about the lightbulbs for a second and take a look in your fridge.
German scientists looking at the effect agriculture has on emissions have found that those who derive much of their sustenance from meat and dairy farmed conventionally are doing amore damage to the Earth’s fragile atmosphere.
Livestock emit the nasty greenhouse gas methane from both ends, so whether they are farmed organically or conventionally does not alter this output. However, conventional farming chips in with another planet polluter, nitrous oxide, courtesy of the manufacture and use of fertilisers.
The study, by the Institute for Ecological Economy Research (IOEW) for German consumer advocate Foodwatch, found that nitrous oxide made up almost 20 percent of agricultural emissions, with nitrogen based fertilisers the biggest culprit. Organic farming may require more land but it still reduces emissions by 20 percent mainly by not using fertilisers that release nitrous oxide – a greenhouse gas regarded as 300 times more harmful than carbon dioxide.
However, Foodwatch head Thilo Bode told Der Spiegel that if you’re really serious about cutting your footprint, you need to eliminate meat or at least return to the days of the Sunday roast, with meat a once-a-week treat. “The cow is a climate bomb,” he says, arguing for higher prices on meat and dairy items.
Over in Italy, they are more concerned about wine than meat. According to a study from the purveyor of la dolce vita, if you drink the organic variety your conscience – if not your head – will be a little clearer.
A team from the University of Siena measured the resources – growing, packaging and distribution – that went into making sangiovese at wineries 30km apart, one organic, one conventional. A bottle of the planet friendly variety came in with a carbon footprint of just over 7sqm compared with just under 14sqm for conventional wine. So lift your glasses to the organic gods of wine.
