IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jfpoli/v79y2018icp58-66.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Impact of current, National Dietary Guidelines and alternative diets on greenhouse gas emissions in Argentina

Author

Listed:
  • Arrieta, E.M.
  • González, A.D.

Abstract

Diets have become an increasingly important driver of environmental pressures due to greenhouse gas emissions (GHGE), land use and other indicators of environmental impact associated with food production. In the present study we analyse the GHGE and the potential climate change mitigation through dietary changes in a country with high beef consumption, to contribute to the debate on what constitutes a healthy and sustainable diet. Data collected in the National Survey of Household Income and Expenditure 2012/2013 was used to estimate the composition of the current diet in Argentina, and four dietary scenarios were developed following the nutritional recommendations of the National Dietary Guidelines (NDG). We found that the GHGE related to the current Argentinian diet are very high (5.48 ± 1.71 kg CO2-eq/person/day), with beef production contributing to the largest share of emissions (71%). The NDG suggest a 50% reduction of total daily intake of meats compared to current consumption, which, if adopted, would reduce GHGE in 28%, to 3.95 ± 0.96. Further reductions in GHGE appear possible while maintaining a healthy and balanced diet. The scenarios with non-ruminant meats and lacto-ovo vegetarian lead to similar GHGE, 2.11 ± 0.41 and 1.73 ± 0.37 kg CO2-eq/day/person, respectively; and the vegan diet results in the lowest, 1.47 ± 0.34 kg CO2-eq/day/person. Indicators for nutrient efficiencies were also developed. All nutrient efficiencies decreased in diets with bovine meat with respect to the non-ruminant, vegetarian and vegan ones. The results of this study therefore indicate that a set of dietary changes would significantly contribute to lower GHGE. Argentina’s NDG should include the environmental impacts of food consumption with the aim of raising consumer awareness.

Suggested Citation

  • Arrieta, E.M. & González, A.D., 2018. "Impact of current, National Dietary Guidelines and alternative diets on greenhouse gas emissions in Argentina," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 58-66.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jfpoli:v:79:y:2018:i:c:p:58-66
    DOI: 10.1016/j.foodpol.2018.05.003
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306919217303627
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.foodpol.2018.05.003?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Säll, Sarah & Gren, Ing-Marie, 2015. "Effects of an environmental tax on meat and dairy consumption in Sweden," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 41-53.
    2. Bryngelsson, David & Wirsenius, Stefan & Hedenus, Fredrik & Sonesson, Ulf, 2016. "How can the EU climate targets be met? A combined analysis of technological and demand-side changes in food and agriculture," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 152-164.
    3. van Dooren, Corné & Douma, Annely & Aiking, Harry & Vellinga, Pier, 2017. "Proposing a Novel Index Reflecting Both Climate Impact and Nutritional Impact of Food Products," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 389-398.
    4. David Tilman & Michael Clark, 2014. "Global diets link environmental sustainability and human health," Nature, Nature, vol. 515(7528), pages 518-522, November.
    5. van Dooren, C. & Marinussen, Mari & Blonk, Hans & Aiking, Harry & Vellinga, Pier, 2014. "Exploring dietary guidelines based on ecological and nutritional values: A comparison of six dietary patterns," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 36-46.
    6. Apostolidis, Chrysostomos & McLeay, Fraser, 2016. "Should we stop meating like this? Reducing meat consumption through substitution," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 74-89.
    7. Grunert, Klaus G. & Hieke, Sophie & Wills, Josephine, 2014. "Sustainability labels on food products: Consumer motivation, understanding and use," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 177-189.
    8. Detlef Vuuren & Timothy Carter, 2014. "Climate and socio-economic scenarios for climate change research and assessment: reconciling the new with the old," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 122(3), pages 415-429, February.
    9. Elinor Hallström & Quentin Gee & Peter Scarborough & David A. Cleveland, 2017. "A healthier US diet could reduce greenhouse gas emissions from both the food and health care systems," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 142(1), pages 199-212, May.
    10. Fredrik Hedenus & Stefan Wirsenius & Daniel Johansson, 2014. "The importance of reduced meat and dairy consumption for meeting stringent climate change targets," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 124(1), pages 79-91, May.
    11. González, Alejandro D. & Frostell, Björn & Carlsson-Kanyama, Annika, 2011. "Protein efficiency per unit energy and per unit greenhouse gas emissions: Potential contribution of diet choices to climate change mitigation," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(5), pages 562-570, October.
    12. Hunter, Erik & Röös, Elin, 2016. "Fear of climate change consequences and predictors of intentions to alter meat consumption," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 151-160.
    13. Edjabou, Louise Dyhr & Smed, Sinne, 2013. "The effect of using consumption taxes on foods to promote climate friendly diets – The case of Denmark," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 84-96.
    14. Tsang, Eric W. K., 2014. "Old and New," Management and Organization Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 10(03), pages 390-390, November.
    15. Bojana Bajželj & Keith S. Richards & Julian M. Allwood & Pete Smith & John S. Dennis & Elizabeth Curmi & Christopher A. Gilligan, 2014. "Importance of food-demand management for climate mitigation," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 4(10), pages 924-929, October.
    16. Sununtnasuk, Celeste & Fiedler, John L., 2017. "Can household-based food consumption surveys be used to make inferences about nutrient intakes and inadequacies? A Bangladesh case study," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 121-131.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Allan, Grant & Comerford, David & McGregor, Peter, 2019. "The system-wide impact of healthy eating: Assessing emissions and economic impacts at the regional level," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 1-1.
    2. Maria Luz Fernandez & Dele Raheem & Fernando Ramos & Conrado Carrascosa & Ariana Saraiva & António Raposo, 2021. "Highlights of Current Dietary Guidelines in Five Continents," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(6), pages 1-9, March.
    3. Victor Silva & Francisco Contreras & Ryu Koide & Chen Liu, 2023. "Analyzing Diets’ Contribution to Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Brasilia, Brazil," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-17, April.
    4. D'Souza, Clare & Brouwer, Anne Renée & Singaraju, Stephen, 2022. "Veganism: Theory of planned behaviour, ethical concerns and the moderating role of catalytic experiences," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    5. Isabel Miguel & Arnaldo Coelho & Cristela Maia Bairrada, 2020. "Modelling Attitude towards Consumption of Vegan Products," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-17, December.
    6. Xavier Esteve-Llorens & Ana Cláudia Dias & Maria Teresa Moreira & Gumersindo Feijoo & Sara González-García, 2020. "Evaluating the Portuguese diet in the pursuit of a lower carbon and healthier consumption pattern," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 162(4), pages 2397-2409, October.
    7. Atsushi Watabe & Alice Marie Yamabe-Ledoux, 2023. "Low-Carbon Lifestyles beyond Decarbonisation: Toward a More Creative Use of the Carbon Footprinting Method," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-28, March.
    8. Bingli Clark Chai & Johannes Reidar van der Voort & Kristina Grofelnik & Helga Gudny Eliasdottir & Ines Klöss & Federico J. A. Perez-Cueto, 2019. "Which Diet Has the Least Environmental Impact on Our Planet? A Systematic Review of Vegan, Vegetarian and Omnivorous Diets," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(15), pages 1-18, July.
    9. 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.
    10. Johanna Ruett & Lena Hennes & Jens Teubler & Boris Braun, 2022. "How Compatible Are Western European Dietary Patterns to Climate Targets? Accounting for Uncertainty of Life Cycle Assessments by Applying a Probabilistic Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-21, November.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jennifer A. Jay & Raffaella D’Auria & J. Cully Nordby & David Andy Rice & David A. Cleveland & Anthony Friscia & Sophie Kissinger & Marc Levis & Hannah Malan & Deepak Rajagopal & Joel R. Reynolds & We, 2019. "Reduction of the carbon footprint of college freshman diets after a food-based environmental science course," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 154(3), pages 547-564, June.
    2. Bazoche, Pascale & Guinet, Nicolas & Poret, Sylvaine & Teyssier, Sabrina, 2023. "Does the provision of information increase the substitution of animal proteins with plant-based proteins? An experimental investigation into consumer choices," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).
    3. van Dooren, C. & Keuchenius, C. & de Vries, J.H.M. & de Boer, J. & Aiking, H., 2018. "Unsustainable dietary habits of specific subgroups require dedicated transition strategies: Evidence from the Netherlands," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 44-57.
    4. Apostolidis, Chrysostomos & McLeay, Fraser, 2016. "Should we stop meating like this? Reducing meat consumption through substitution," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 74-89.
    5. Oriana Gava & Fabio Bartolini & Francesca Venturi & Gianluca Brunori & Angela Zinnai & Alberto Pardossi, 2018. "A Reflection of the Use of the Life Cycle Assessment Tool for Agri-Food Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-16, December.
    6. Jayet, Pierre-Alain & Isbasoiu, Ancuta & De Cara, Stéphane, 2020. "Slaughter cattle to secure food calories and reduce agricultural greenhouse gas emissions? Some prospective estimates for France," Review of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Studies, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), vol. 101(1), July.
    7. Brunner, Florentine & Kurz, Verena & Bryngelsson, David & Hedenus, Fredrik, 2018. "Carbon Label at a University Restaurant – Label Implementation and Evaluation," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 658-667.
    8. 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.
    9. Bryngelsson, David & Wirsenius, Stefan & Hedenus, Fredrik & Sonesson, Ulf, 2016. "How can the EU climate targets be met? A combined analysis of technological and demand-side changes in food and agriculture," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 152-164.
    10. David Bryngelsson & Fredrik Hedenus & Daniel J. A. Johansson & Christian Azar & Stefan Wirsenius, 2017. "How Do Dietary Choices Influence the Energy-System Cost of Stabilizing the Climate?," Energies, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-13, February.
    11. Brent F. Kim & Keeve E. Nachman & Roni A. Neff & Marie L. Spiker & Raychel E. Santo, 2016. "Concerns re: interpretation and translation of findings in Energy use, blue water footprint, and greenhouse gas emissions for current food consumption patterns and dietary recommendations in the US," Environment Systems and Decisions, Springer, vol. 36(1), pages 104-105, March.
    12. Säll, Sarah & Gren, Ing-Marie, 2015. "Effects of an environmental tax on meat and dairy consumption in Sweden," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 41-53.
    13. Vivian G. M. Quam & Joacim Rocklöv & Mikkel B. M. Quam & Rebekah A. I. Lucas, 2017. "Assessing Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Health Co-Benefits: A Structured Review of Lifestyle-Related Climate Change Mitigation Strategies," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-19, April.
    14. Gren, Ing-Marie & Höglind, Lisa & Jansson, Torbjörn, 2021. "Refunding of a climate tax on food consumption in Sweden," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 100(C).
    15. Louis-Georges Soler & Alban Thomas, 2020. "Is there a win–win scenario with increased beef quality and reduced consumption?," Review of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Studies, Springer, vol. 101(1), pages 91-116, October.
    16. Annala, Milla & Vinnari, Markus, 2019. "Content Analysis of TV Food Advertising Using Climate Impact and a Nutritional Impact Index," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 68-74.
    17. Mario Herrero & Benjamin Henderson & Petr Havlík & Philip K. Thornton & Richard T. Conant & Pete Smith & Stefan Wirsenius & Alexander N. Hristov & Pierre Gerber & Margaret Gill & Klaus Butterbach-Bahl, 2016. "Greenhouse gas mitigation potentials in the livestock sector," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 6(5), pages 452-461, May.
    18. Louise Seconda & Julia Baudry & Benjamin Allès & Christine Boizot-Szantai & Louis-Georges Soler & Pilar Galan & Serge Hercberg & Brigitte Langevin & Denis Lairon & Philippe Pointereau & Emmanuelle Kes, 2018. "Comparing nutritional, economic, and environmental performances of diets according to their levels of greenhouse gas emissions," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 148(1), pages 155-172, May.
    19. Marthe Hårvik Austgulen & Silje Elisabeth Skuland & Alexander Schjøll & Frode Alfnes, 2018. "Consumer Readiness to Reduce Meat Consumption for the Purpose of Environmental Sustainability: Insights from Norway," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-24, August.
    20. Béné, Christophe & Oosterveer, Peter & Lamotte, Lea & Brouwer, Inge D. & de Haan, Stef & Prager, Steve D. & Talsma, Elise F. & Khoury, Colin K., 2019. "When food systems meet sustainability – Current narratives and implications for actions," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 116-130.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jfpoli:v:79:y:2018:i:c:p:58-66. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/foodpol .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.