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Ethical aspects of life cycle assessments of diets

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  • Goldstein, Benjamin
  • Hansen, Steffen Foss
  • Gjerris, Mickey
  • Laurent, Alexis
  • Birkved, Morten

Abstract

Since the turn of the century a growing chorus of researchers has been espousing reduced meat and dairy intake as a partial strategy to transition towards a sustainable food system. Many of these studies have been predicated on a life-cycle assessment (LCA) methodology and though transparent in communicating their work within that framework, it has largely gone unmentioned that LCA involves a number of choices by the assessor and LCA methodology developers that are ultimately subjective. This study uses a consequential LCA of the average Danish diet in comparison to model vegetarian and vegan diets, leveraging the cultural perspectives afforded by the ReCiPe methodology, as starting point to explore the ways that subjectivity influences the LCA process and to test the robustness of the results against these different viewpoints. Mirroring earlier studies, we find vegetarian and vegan diets generally perform better environmentally compared to a standard Danish diet, but that there was minimal difference between the two no-meat options. Results were resilient to varying cultural perspectives applied in the model. LCA methodology, though loaded with value judgments, remains a dependable tool for assessing environmental dietary performance, but is less suited for estimating environmental pressures that are highly dependent on local conditions (e.g. chemical toxicity).

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  • Goldstein, Benjamin & Hansen, Steffen Foss & Gjerris, Mickey & Laurent, Alexis & Birkved, Morten, 2016. "Ethical aspects of life cycle assessments of diets," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 139-151.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:jfpoli:v:59:y:2016:i:c:p:139-151
    DOI: 10.1016/j.foodpol.2016.01.006
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    Cited by:

    1. Escribano, M. & Elghannam, A. & Mesias, F.J., 2020. "Dairy sheep farms in semi-arid rangelands: A carbon footprint dilemma between intensification and land-based grazing," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    2. Salvatore Ciano & S?verine Goscinny & Giuliana Vinci, 2020. "Hemp (Cannabis Sativa L.): Sustainability and challenges for the food sector," RIVISTA DI STUDI SULLA SOSTENIBILITA', FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 0(1), pages 179-194.
    3. Morena Bruno & Marianne Thomsen & Federico Maria Pulselli & Nicoletta Patrizi & Michele Marini & Dario Caro, 2019. "The carbon footprint of Danish diets," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 156(4), pages 489-507, October.
    4. Oriana Gava & Fabio Bartolini & Francesca Venturi & Gianluca Brunori & Alberto Pardossi, 2020. "Improving Policy Evidence Base for Agricultural Sustainability and Food Security: A Content Analysis of Life Cycle Assessment Research," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-29, February.
    5. Anna Kustar & Dalia Patino-Echeverri, 2021. "A Review of Environmental Life Cycle Assessments of Diets: Plant-Based Solutions Are Truly Sustainable, even in the Form of Fast Foods," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(17), pages 1-22, September.
    6. András Fehér & Michał Gazdecki & Miklós Véha & Márk Szakály & Zoltán Szakály, 2020. "A Comprehensive Review of the Benefits of and the Barriers to the Switch to a Plant-Based Diet," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(10), pages 1-18, May.
    7. Thanh-Lam Nguyen & Do Huu Tai & Lam Thanh Hien & Doan Manh Quynh & Phan Ngoc Son, 2020. "A Novel Model to Predict Plant-Based Food Choice-Empirical Study in Southern Vietnam," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-25, May.

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