LCA Food 2012 in Saint Malo, France! - Manifestations et colloques ...

PLENARY SESSION 1: FOOD 8 th Int. Conference on LCA in the
Agri-Food Sector, 1-4 Oct 2012
different conversion factors (and therefore food losses) in 2006 and 1985-89, the observed differences could
be caused either by variations in the average diet or varying food losses (Fig. 1).
For the reductions observed the main driver has been a shift in diets, with the exception of blue water.
Here, mainly caused by an increased intake of fruits, blue water also increased accordingly. But this rise was
almost compensated by less food losses in 2006 (for fruits). For the other indicators (GHG, NH3, land use, P
use), which are more driven by animal products, increased food losses partially countervailed gains achieved
through shifting diets. Beneficial reductions by both means (diet shift and less food losses) have been observed
only for the cumulative energy demand (CED).
Concerning sensitivity analysis, a perturbation analysis was performed with a variation of ± 25% of the
input parameters.
4. Discussion
Taking different reference years, countries and system boundaries into consideration our results are comparable
to other studies (e.g. Taylor 2000, Peters et al., 2007, Muñoz et al., 2010, Jungbluth et al., 2011).
Nevertheless the following limitations of our study should be mentioned:
system boundaries cradle-to-store (not cradle-to-grave)
attributional approach, although data for fish was generated by a consequential approach
for the scenario analysis (comparison with recommendations and diet styles) a consequential approach
would be more appropriate to also analyse rebound effects (e.g. market effects)
for GHG emissions, NH3 emissions, P use and CED, if no separate data for imported products was
available then these were modelled as domestically produced
although different intake and production data were used, for 1985-89 the same production conditions
(and therefore production efficiencies), import shares and import countries were assumed
nuts & seeds were omitted in the scenario analysis of the recommendations (D-A-CH, UGB)
due to the ongoing discussion about water in LCAs, we only considered blue water
With regard to the diet styles analysed it should be noted that a vegan diet, and to a lesser extent a vegetarian
one, could provide an insufficient supply of essential nutrients.
5. Conclusion
The study shows that within one society distinct diet profiles of men and women with markedly different
environmental impacts are already established. Nevertheless, with regard to dietary recommendations and
alternative diet styles (vegetarian, vegan) men, and to a lesser extent women as well, could achieve significant
environmental benefits (with the exception of blue water use). In comparison to the years 1985-89, all
indicators showed reduced environmental impacts, but with distinct contributions of the main drivers (diet
shifts and food losses). Further research should also consider health impact assessments to ensure that alterations
in diet profiles due to environmental constraints do not lead to disadvantageous public health effects.
Particular attention should be paid here to potentially undernourished subgroups (such as toddlers, children,
the elderly, sick people, pregnant women etc.).
6. References
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