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

PARALLEL SESSION 4A: CARBON FOOTPRINT 8 th Int. Conference on LCA in the
Agri-Food Sector, 1-4 Oct 2012
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The product carbon footprint is calculated (Figure 1a).
The product GHG-emissions are compensated for by emission reductions elsewhere (Figure 1b).
The company is committed to reducing its product carbon footprint by xx% per year (Figure 1c).
The product has a low carbon footprint compared with other food products in its category (e.g. cereal
products) (Figure 1d).
The product carbon footprint is indicated on a scale (on a scale with five ranges: 200 or less, 200-
400, 400-800, 800-1200, 1200 or more grams CO2-equivalents per 100 gram of product). The scale
is broad enough for all food products, and thus it enables rough comparisons between different food
product categories to be made (Figure 1e).
The product carbon footprint is indicated numerically: xx CO2-equivalents per 100 gram of product
(Figure 1f).
Figures 1a-f. Carbon labels.
1a. 1b.
1c. 1d.
1e. (edit. Raisio 2011) 1f.
3. Results
In the discussions all the participants (when grocery shopping) regarded many other buying criteria, such
as taste, price, and healthiness, as more important factors than environmental friendliness. Only a couple
participants regarded food as one of the main environmental stress factors, whereas housing and transportation
were mentioned often. However, when asked directly: Does food impact the environment?, the participants
replied that food had an at least some impact on the environment. All groups mentioned food packaging
waste, food waste, food transport, and meat production as having an impact on the environment. Also, in
the elderly group (ages 53-65) there was more talk about food scarcity.
A surprising finding was that while the participants had heard of the term ‘product carbon footprint’, only
two respondents were able to describe the term at least somewhat accurately. About 50 per cent of respondents
thought that the term referred to environmental impacts in general, and 6 respondents thought that the
carbon footprint would be calculated by taking into account only the energy needed to produce the product.