Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

The carbon footprint of Danish diets

  • Published:
Climatic Change Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The Danish diet is characterized by a high content of sugar, fat dairy products and red meat, and a low content of fruits and vegetables. As it is considered unhealthy and environmentally unfriendly, various alternatives to the standard Danish diet have been investigated and promoted in Denmark, such as the New Nordic Diet. By using a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), this study estimates the carbon footprint (CF) of four different diet scenarios in Denmark: standard, carnivore, vegetarian and vegan. The LCA is applied to build a dataset of the 47 most widely eaten food and beverage products, which represent the average Danish eating habits and grouped into six food categories. Unlike most past LCA-based studies, where system boundaries are limited to the farm gate, this study covers all activities and relative use of materials and energy, from the food production phase to the final consumption (namely ‘from-cradle-to-fork’). We find that the highest CF value is associated with the carnivore diet, which has the highest impact (1.83 t CO2eq person−1 year−1). The vegan and vegetarian diets record the best profiles (0.89 and 1.37 t CO2eq person−1 year−1, respectively), whereas the standard Danish diet has a CF value of 1.59 t CO2eq person−1 year−1. We find that the food production phase is the most significant in terms of CF (65–85%). This study confirms that dietary preferences are a strong driver of CF. A comparison with CF associated with other diets suggests that a further research could provide a guidance to promote healthy eating patterns with adequate nutritional values and better environmental performances.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Baldo GL, Massimo M, Rossi S (2008) Analisi del ciclo di vita LCA. Gli strumenti per la progettazione sostenibile di materiali, prodotti e processi. Edizioni Ambiente

  • Barilla Center for Food & Nutrition (BCFN) (2016) Double pyramid 2016. A more sustainable future depends on us. https://www.barillacfn.com/m/publications/doublepyramid2016-more-sustainable-future-depends-on-us.pdf. Accessed Jan 2019

  • Bastianoni S, Caro D, Borghesi S, Pulselli FM (2014) The effect of a consumption-based accounting method in national GHG inventories: a trilateral trade system application. Front Energy Res 2:4

    Google Scholar 

  • Bastianoni S, Niccolucci V, Patrizi N, Algeri MA, Marchettini N (2016) What can Emergy tell about food: the impact of diets. 9th biennial Emergy research conference, Gainesville

    Google Scholar 

  • Behrens P, Kiefte-de Jong JC, Bosker T, Rodrigues JFD, de Koninga A, Tukker A (2017) Evaluating the environmental impacts of dietary recommendations. PNAS 114:13412–13417

    Google Scholar 

  • Berners-Lee M, Hoolohan C, Cammack H, Hewitt CN (2012) The relative greenhouse gas impacts of realistic dietary choices. Energ Policy 43:184–190

    Google Scholar 

  • de Boer J, Helms M, Aiking H (2006) Protein consumption and sustainability: diet diversity in EU-15. Ecol Econ 59:267–274

    Google Scholar 

  • Bryngelsson D, Wirsenius S, Hedenus F, Sonesson U (2016) How can the EU climate targets be met? A combined analysis of technological and demand-side changes in food and agriculture. Food Policy 59:152–164

    Google Scholar 

  • Canada’s food guide (2019). Available at: https://food-guide.canada.ca/en/healthy-food-choices/ Accessed June 2019

  • Canadian Dairy Information Centre (CDIC) (2013). http://dairyinfo.gc.ca/index_e.php. Accessed Jan 2019

  • Caro D, Davis SJ, Bastianoni S, Caldeira K (2014) Global and regional trends in greenhouse gas emissions from livestock. Climate Change 126:203–216

    Google Scholar 

  • Caro D, Pulselli FM, Borghesi S, Bastianoni S (2017) Mapping the international flows of GHG emissions within a more feasible consumption-based framework. J Clean Prod 147:142–151

    Google Scholar 

  • Caro D, Davis S, Kebreab E, Mitloehner F (2018) Land-use change emissions from soybean feed embodied in Brazilian pork and poultry meat. J Clean Prod 172:2646–2654

    Google Scholar 

  • Castañé S, Antón A (2017) Assessment of the nutritional quality and environmental impact of two food diets: a Mediterranean and a vegan diet. J Clean Prod 167:929–937

    Google Scholar 

  • Corrado S, Luzzani G, Trevisan M, Lamastra L (2019) Contribution of different life cycle stages to the greenhouse gas emissions associated with three balanced dietary patterns. Sci Total Environ 660:622–630

    Google Scholar 

  • Coscieme L, Pulselli FM, Niccolucci V, Patrizi N, Sutton PC (2016) Accounting for “land-grabbing” from a biocapacity viewpoint. Sci Total Environ 539:551–559

    Google Scholar 

  • Crenna E, Sinkko T, Sala S (2019) Biodiversity impacts due to food consumption in Europe. J Clean Prod 227:378–391

    Google Scholar 

  • Danish Centre For Food And Agriculture (DCA) (2016) Danish agriculture can reduce greenhouse gases. http://dca.au.dk/en/current-news/news/show/artikel/klimakravene-til-dansk-landbrug-kan-realiseres/. Accessed Jan 2019

  • van Dooren C, Aiking H (2014) Defining a nutritionally healthy, environmentally friendly, and culturally acceptable low lands diet. In: Schenck R, Huizenga D (Eds.). Proceedings of the 9th international conference on life cycle assessment in the Agri-food sector (LCA food 2014). San Francisco, USA

  • van Dooren C, Marinussen M, Blonk H, Aiking H, Vellinga P (2014) Exploring dietary guidelines based on ecological and nutritional values: a comparison of six dietary patterns. Food Policy 44:36–46

    Google Scholar 

  • EAT-Lancet Commission (2019) Healthy diets from sustainable food system. Food planet health. Available at: https://eatforum.org/content/uploads/2019/04/EAT-Lancet_Commission_Summary_Report.pdf. Accessed Jan 2019

  • Ecoinvent (2014) Ecoinvent database v3.3. Swiss Centre for Life-cycle Inventories, Dübendorf, Switzerland Available from: http://www.ecoinvent.org/database/. Accessed Jan 2019

  • Esteve-Llorens X, Darriba Ferradás LC, Moreira MT, Feijoo G, González-García S (2018) Towards an environmentally sustainable Atlantic dietary pattern: life cycle carbon footprint and nutritional quality. Sci Total Environ 646:704–715

    Google Scholar 

  • European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) (2009) Review of labelling reference intake values scientific opinion of the panel on dietetic products, nutrition and allergies on a request from the commission related to the review of labelling reference intake values for selected nutritional elements. EFSA J 1008:1–14

    Google Scholar 

  • Eurostat (2018) Energy consumption in households. Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=Energy_consumption_in_households. Accessed Jan 2019

  • FAO (2007) Meat Consumption Per Person. Available at: https://www.scribd.com/doc/91840616/Meat-Consumption-Per-Person. Accessed Jan 2019

  • FAO (2010) Sustainable diets and biodiversity. Directions and solutions for policy, research and action. International Scientific Symposium, FAO Headquarters, Rome. Available at: http://www.fao.org/docrep/016/i3004e/i3004e.pdf. Accessed Jan 2019

  • FAO (2019) Technical conversion factor for agricultural commodities. Available at: http://www.fao.org/economic/the-statistics-division-ess/methodology/methodology-systems/technical-conversion-factors-for-agricultural-commodities/en. Accessed Jan 2019

  • FAOSTAT (2018) http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data. Accessed Jan 2019

  • FoodDrinkEurope (2011) FoodDrinkEurope views on future global and EU climate change policies. http://www.fooddrinkeurope.eu/uploads/statements_documents/Final_climate_change.pdf. Accessed Jan 2019

  • Foster C, Green K, Bleda M, Dewick P, Evans B, Flynn A, Mylan J (2006) Environmental impacts of food production and consumption: a report to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Manchester Business School, Defra, London

  • Friel S, Dagour A, Garnett T, Lock K, Chalabi Z, Roberts I, Butler A, Butler CD, Waage J, McMichael AJ, Haines A (2009) Public health benefits of strategies to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions: food and agriculture. Lancet 374:2016–2025

    Google Scholar 

  • Garnett T (2011) Where the best opportunities for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the food system (including the food chain)? Food Policy 36:S23–S32

    Google Scholar 

  • Givens DI, Kliem KE, Gibbs RA (2006) The role of meat as a source of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids in the human diet. Meat Sci 74:209–218

    Google Scholar 

  • Godar J, Persson UM, Tizado EJ, Meyfroidt P (2015) Towards more accurate and policy relevant footprint analyses: tracing fine-scale socio-environmental impacts of production to consumption. Ecol Econ 112:25–35

    Google Scholar 

  • Goldstein B, Hansen SF, Gjerris M, Laurent A, Birkved M (2016) Ethical aspects of life cycle assessment of diets. Food Policy 59:139–151

    Google Scholar 

  • González AD, Frostell B, Carlsson-Kanyama A (2011) Protein efficiency per unit energy and per unit greenhouse gas emissions: potential contribution of diet choices to climate change mitigation. Food Policy 36:562–570

    Google Scholar 

  • González-García S, Esteve-Llorens X, Moreira MT, Feijoo G (2018) Carbon footprint and nutritional quality of different human dietary choices. Sci Total Environ 644:77–94

    Google Scholar 

  • GourmetSleuth (2018) Gram Ingredient Conversions Calculator. https://www.gourmetsleuth.com/conversions/grams/gram. Accessed Sept. 2018

  • Guinée J, Gorree M, Heijungs R, Huppes G, Kleijn R, de Koning A, van Oers L, Wegener Seeswijk A, Suh S, Udo de Haes HA, de Bruijn H, van Duin R, Huijbregts M (2002) Handbook on life cycle assessment. Operational guide to the ISO standards. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht

    Google Scholar 

  • Hallström E, Carlsson-Kanyama A, Börjesson P (2015) Environmental impact of dietary change: a systematic review. J Clean Prod 91:1–11

    Google Scholar 

  • Heller MC, Keoleian GA, Willett WC (2013) Toward a life cycle-based, diet-level framework for food environmental impact and nutrition quality assessment: a critical review. Environ Sci Technol 47:12632–12647

    Google Scholar 

  • HSH - The Department of International Trade Cooperation (DITC). (2009) The Swedish Chambers of Commerce Finnpartnership - Finnish Business Partnership Programme. http://chambertradesweden.se/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Nordic_FruitVeg_dec2009.pdf. Accessed Jan 2019

  • Humbert S, Loerincik Y, Rossi V, Margni M, Jolliet O (2009) Life cycle assessment of spray dried soluble coffee and comparison with alternatives (drip filter and capsule espresso). J Clean Prod 17:1351–1358

    Google Scholar 

  • International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) (2006) Environmental Management. Life Cycle Assessment e Principles and Framework. ISO 114040. ISO, Geneva

  • Jedidi IK, Ayoub IK, Philippe T, Bouzouita N (2017) Chemical composition and nutritional value of three Tunisian wild edible mushrooms. Food Measure 11:2069–2075

    Google Scholar 

  • Joint Research Centre (JRC) (2010) Analysis of existing environmental impact assessment methodologies. http://eplca.jrc.ec.europa.eu/uploads/ILCD-Handbook-LCIA-Background-analysis-online-12March2010.pdf. Accessed Jan 2019

  • Loma Linda University, school of public health, department of Nutrition (2008) The Vegetarian Food Pyramid. http://www.vegetariannutrition.org/6icvn/food-pyramid.pdf. Accessed Jan 2019

  • Maia MRG, Fonseca AJM, Oliveira HM, Mendonça C, Cabrita ARJ (2016) The potential role of seaweeds in natural manipulation of rumen fermentation and methane production. Sci Rep 6:32321

    Google Scholar 

  • McAfee AJ, McSorley EM, Cuskelly GJ, Moss BW, Wallace JMW, Bonham MP, Fearon AM (2010) Red meat consumption: an overview of the risks and benefits. Meat Sci 84:1–13

    Google Scholar 

  • Millward DJ, Garnett T (2010) Nutritional dilemmas of greenhouse gas emission reductions through reduced intakes of meat and dairy foods. P Nutr Soc 69:103–118

    Google Scholar 

  • Ministry of Environment and Food of Denmark (2009) Carbon Footprint data. Available at: https://en.mfvm.dk/fileadmin/user_upload/ENGLISH_FVM.DK/Themes/climate_change_and_food/Carbon_Footprint_data.pdf. Accessed Jan 2019

  • Muñoz I, Milà i Canals L, Fernández-Alba AR (2010) Life cycle assessment of the average Spanish diet including human excretion. Int J Life Cycle Assess 15:794–805

    Google Scholar 

  • Neri E, Rossetti F, Rugani B, Niccolucci V, Bastianoni S, Marchettini N (2012) Life Cycle Assessment ed eMergy applicate al confronto tra sistemi di produzione biologica e convenzionale. VI Convegno della Rete Italiana LCA. Dall’Analisi del Ciclo di Vita all’Impronta Ambientale: percorsi ed esperienze a confronto. pp 144-153

  • Nielsen PH, Nielsen AM, Weidema BP, Dalgaard R, Halberg N (2003) LCA food data base. www.lcafood.dk. Accessed 27 May 2009

  • Nijdam D, Rood T, Westhoek H (2012) The price of protein: review of land use and carbon footprints from life cycle assessments of animal food products and their substitutes. Food Policy 37:760–770

    Google Scholar 

  • Notarnicola B, Tassielli G, Renzulli PA, Castellani V, Sala S (2017) Environmental impacts of food consumption in Europe. J Clean Prod 140:753–765

    Google Scholar 

  • Pan A, Sun Q, Bernstein AM, Schulze MB, Manson JE, Stampfer MJ, Willett WC, Hu FB (2012) Red meat consumption and mortality: results from 2 prospective cohort studies. Arch Intern Med 172:555–563

    Google Scholar 

  • Pathak H, Jain N, Bhatia A, Patel J, Aggarwal PK (2010) Carbon footprints of Indian food items. Agric Ecosyst Environ 139:66–73

    Google Scholar 

  • Perignon M, Vieux F, Soler LG, Masset G, Darmon N (2017) Improving diet sustainability through evolution of food choices: review of epidemiological studies on the environmental impact of diets. Nutr Rev 75:2–17

    Google Scholar 

  • Pernollet F, Coelho CR, van der Werf HM (2016) Methods to simplify diet and food life cycle inventories: accuracy versus data-collection resources. J Clean Prod 140(Part 2):410–420

    Google Scholar 

  • Pizzigallo ACI, Granai C, Borsa S (2008) The joint use of LCA and emergy evaluation for the analysis of two Italian wine farms. J Environ Manag 86:396–406

    Google Scholar 

  • PRé Consultants (2014) SimaPro 8.4.0 https://www.pre-sustainability.com/simapro/default. Accessed Jan 2019

  • PRé Consultants (2016) What’s New in SimaPro 8.3. Available at: https://www.pre-sustainability.com/download/manuals/SimaPro83WhatIsNew.pdf

  • Ridoutt BG, Hendrie GA, Noakes M (2017) Dietary strategies to reduce environmental impact: a critical review of the evidence base. Adv Nutr 8:933–946

    Google Scholar 

  • Risku-Norja H, Kurppa S, Helenius J (2009) Dietary choices and greenhouse gas emissions – assessment of impact of vegetarian and organic options at national scale. Progr Ind Ecol Int J 6:340–354

    Google Scholar 

  • Rosi A, Mena P, Pellegrini N, Turroni S, Neviani E, Ferrocino I, Di Cagno R, Ruini L, Ciati R, Angelino D, Maddock J, Gobbetti M, Brighenti F, Del Rio D, Scazzina F (2017) Environmental impact of omnivorous, ovo-lacto-vegetarian, and vegan diet. Nature 7:6105

    Google Scholar 

  • Sala S, Anton A, McLaren SJ, Notarnicola B, Saouter E, Sonesson U (2017) In quest of reducing the environmental impacts of food production and consumption. J Clean Prod 140:387–398

    Google Scholar 

  • Sandström V, Valin H, Krisztin T, Havlik P, Herrero M, Kastner T (2018) The role of trade in the greenhouse gas footprints of EU diets. Global Food Sec 19:48–55

    Google Scholar 

  • Saxe H (2014) The new Nordic diet is an effective tool in environmental protection: it reduces the associated socioeconomic cost of diets. Am J Clin Nutr 99:1117–1125

    Google Scholar 

  • Saxe H, Larsen MT, Mogensen L (2013) The global warming potential of two healthy Nordic diets compared with the average Danish diet. Clim Chang 116:249–262

    Google Scholar 

  • Searchinger T, Heimlich R, Houghton RA, Dong F, Elobeid A, Fabiosa J, Tokgoz S, Hayes D, Yu T-H (2008) Use of U.S. croplands for biofuels increases greenhouse gases through emissions from land-use change. Science 319:1238–1240

    Google Scholar 

  • Serra-Majem L, Bach-Faig A, Miranda G, Clapes-Badrinas C (2011) Foreword: Mediterranean diet and climatic change. Public Health Nutr 14:2271–2273

    Google Scholar 

  • Sharma AK, Sharma C, Mullick SC, Kandpal TC (2016) Potential of solar industrial process heating in dairy industry in India and consequent carbon mitigation. J Clean Prod 140(Part 2):714–724

    Google Scholar 

  • Slimani N, Fahey M, Welch A, Wirfält E, Stripp C, Bergström E et al (2002) Diversity of dietary patterns observed in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) project. Public Health Nutr 5:1311–1328

    Google Scholar 

  • Statistics Denmark (2017) Statistical Yearbook 2017. https://www.dst.dk/en/Statistik/Publikationer/VisPub?cid=22257. Accessed Jan 2019

  • Statistics Denmark (2018) https://www.dst.dk/en

  • Tukker A, Goldbohm RA, de Koning A, Verheijden M, Kleijn R (2011) Environmental impacts of changes to healthier diets in Europe. Ecol Econ 70:1776–1788

    Google Scholar 

  • Turner BL, Lambin EF, Reenberg A (2007) The emergence of land change science for global environmental change and sustainability. Proc Natl Acad Sci 104:20666–20671

    Google Scholar 

  • U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDHHS) (2015) 2015–2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. 8th Edition. http://health.gov/dietaryguidelines/2015/guidelines/. Accessed Jan 2019

  • Ulaszewska MM, Luzzani G, Pignatelli S, Capri E (2017) Assessment of diet-related GHG emissions using the environmental hourglass approach for the Mediterranean and new Nordic diets. Sci Total Environ 574:829–836

    Google Scholar 

  • Vanderheyden G, Aerts J (2014) Comparative LCA assessment of Fontinet filtered TapWater vs. Natural SourcedWater in a PET Bottle. http://www.futureproofed.com/images/uploads/projects/13506_PWA_LCA_report_final_07.pdf. Accessed Jan 2019

  • Vanham D, Hoekstra AY, Bidoglio G (2013a) Potential water saving through changes in European diets. Environ Int 61:45–56

    Google Scholar 

  • Vanham D, Mekonnen MM, Hoekstra AY (2013b) The water footprint of the EU for different diets. Ecol Indic 32:1–8

    Google Scholar 

  • Vanham D, Bouraoui F, Leip A, Grizzetti B, Bidoglio G (2015) Lost water and nitrogen resources due to EU consumer food waste. Environ Res Lett 10:084008

    Google Scholar 

  • Vanham D, Gawlik BM, Bidoglio G (2017) Food consumption and related water resources in Nordic cities. Ecol Indic 74:119–129

    Google Scholar 

  • Vázquez-Rowe I, Larrea-Gallegos G, Villanueva-Rey P, Gilardino A (2017) Climate change mitigation opportunities based on carbon footprint estimates of dietary patterns in Peru. PLoS One 12(11):e0188182

    Google Scholar 

  • Venti CA, Johnston CS (2002) Modified food guide pyramid for lactovegetarians and vegans. J Nutr 132:1050–1054

    Google Scholar 

  • Vringer K, Benders R, Wilting H, Brink C, Drissen E, Nijdam D, Hoogervorst N (2010) A hybrid multi-region method (HMR) for assessing the environmental impact of private consumption. Ecol Econ 69:2510–2516

    Google Scholar 

  • Weber CL, Matthews HS (2008) Food-miles and the relative climate impacts of food choices in the United States. Environ Sci Technol 42:3508–3513

    Google Scholar 

  • Werner LB, Flysjö A, Tholstrup T (2014) Greenhouse gas emissions of realistic dietary choices in Denmark: the carbon footprint and nutritional value of dairy products. Food Nutr Res 58:20687

    Google Scholar 

  • Westhoek H, Lesschen JP, Rood T, Wagner S, De Marco A, Murphy-Bokern D, Leip A, van Grinsven H, Suttons MA, Oenema O (2014) Food choices, health and environment: effects of cutting Europe’s meat and dairy intake. Glob Environ Chang 26:196–205

    Google Scholar 

  • Wiedmann T, Minx J (2008) A definition of “carbon footprint”. In: Pertsova CC (ed) In ecological economics research trends. Nova science, Hauppauge, NY

    Google Scholar 

  • World Health Organization (WHO) (2003) Food based dietary guidelines in the WHO European Region. http://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0017/150083/E79832.pdf. Accessed Jan 2019

  • World Health Organization (WHO) (2015) Healthy diet. Available at: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs394/en/. Accessed Jan 2019

  • Zhang H, Burr J, Zhao F (2016) A comparative life cycle assessment of lighting technologies for greenhouse crop production. J Clean Prod 140(Part 2):705–713

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Science, Aarhus University, Frederiksborgvej 399, 4000, Roskilde, Denmark

    Morena Bruno, Marianne Thomsen, Michele Marini & Dario Caro

  2. Ecodynamics Group, DEEPS Department of Earth, Environmental and Physical Sciences, University of Siena, Pian dei Mantellini 44, 53100, Siena, Italy

    Federico Maria Pulselli & Nicoletta Patrizi

Authors
  1. Morena Bruno
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Marianne Thomsen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Federico Maria Pulselli
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Nicoletta Patrizi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Michele Marini
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Dario Caro
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Dario Caro.

Additional information

Publisher’s note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Electronic supplementary material

ESM 1

(DOCX 57 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Bruno, M., Thomsen, M., Pulselli, F.M. et al. The carbon footprint of Danish diets. Climatic Change 156, 489–507 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-019-02508-4

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-019-02508-4

Search

Navigation