Carbon footprint of a bowl of cereal?
I came upon this article the other day. It is really interesting and discusses the impact we have on the environment, not just in the obvious aspects of our lives (driving SUVs, etc.) but in areas we hardly think about – our food choices.
Local or imported? Conventional or organic? Can we make choices that will keep our diets healthy and reduce our carbon footprint? Is it possible to eat green? Does it even matter?
The idea that the carbon footprint of a bowl of cereal is equivalent to 4+ miles of driving is eye opening to say the least. As the article mentions, the main culprit in the bowl isn’t the cereal, it’s the milk. That’s because the most emissions-intensive foods are red meat and dairy products. In general, red meat emits 2.5 times as much greenhouse gas as chicken or fish, since rearing cows and other livestock requires a lot of energy. Worse still, they produce methane and their manure releases nitrous oxide. In short, vegan eating is about as close to green as it gets!
