As we carry out a full lifecycle analysis of food it becomes clear that the carbon cost of the energy expended in the agricultural production of the product that has the greatest impact. So whilst food miles, storage, and cooking have an impact for a great number of foods it is the cost of the tractor fuel, the energy to produce the fertiliser and application of crop protection products, amongst others that have the greatest impact.

There is not a great deal out there on the science of food life cycle analysis yet but a recent report by the Manchester Business School to DEFRA provides some fascinating information on the true environmental costs of food. www.defra.gov.uk/science/project_data/DocumentLibrary/EV02007/EV02007_4601_FRP.pdf

Scientific studies on food consumption have concluded that the carbon footprint of a product can be seen as the total amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases that are emitted over its full life cycle - basic foodstuffs such as root vegetables have a carbon footprint of which 50% is attributable to primary production. In contrast the embedded carbon present in energy intensive farmed fish and meat of any type are tremendously high – farmed salmon having up to 95% plus of its carbon cost in primary production.

It is clear there are lots of embedded energy costs in food. We can therefore implement a painless first step in the reduction of our impact on the environment by simply avoiding food waste - especially that of meat and fish. This is not just about using up what’s in the fridge but choosing food that has had less waste in its production, storage and transport.

At apetito we’ve implemented a number of measures to decrease the carbon cost of our products on the environment. We have introduced double-decker lorries for our longer and larger delivery routes - they carry the goods of nearly two conventional trucks but use merely 60% of the fuel. After undertaking a thorough review of our distribution routes we have introduced more local distribution points, reducing our mileage by 1,000,000 miles per year - significantly cutting our CO2 emissions and costs so we can be sure our range is produced sustainably.

So let’s ensure we educate ourselves and future generations to make informed choices on food avoiding waste throughout the food chain and utilise consumer power to encourage large companies to review their impact on the environment in its entirety rather than merely embracing the ever-popular ‘green-wash’.