Carbon Footprint (Food)

A food's carbon footprint is its cradle-to-fork greenhouse gas emissions — from land use and feed production through farm operations, processing, packaging, transport, retail, and cooking — measured in kg CO2-equivalent (CO2e, a unit that combines CO2, methane, and nitrous oxide into a single number).

Ranges vary enormously: beef averages 27 kg CO2e/kg (methane from cattle dominates); lamb 24; cheese 21; pork 7; chicken 6; fish 5; eggs 4.5; tofu 3; root vegetables 0.4; nuts 0.3. Transport ("food miles") is usually under 10% of the total — land use and livestock dominate.