Abstract
Many consumers are willing to move to a more plant-based diet, as is apparent from the increasing demand for plant-based protein sources on many markets. There is scientific evidence that such diets are associated with lower environmental impacts, especially climate impact, land use, and energy use. However, all food production affects the environment, and there is scope for more sustainable food choices even among plant-based foods. We present a method for environmental multi-criteria evaluation of plant-based products to enable communication through a consumer guide, which was developed in cooperation with World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Sweden and involves a real-life case of implementation. The guide included 90 products, divided into five product groups. Four environmental impact categories were evaluated (climate impact, biodiversity impact, water use, pesticide use), to give a fuller, more complex picture of potential environmental impacts of plant-based products than when evaluating only one impact category, such as climate impact. Available environmental footprint data and LCA data adapted for the specific consumer market (Sweden) were used. A method for calculating absolute sustainability thresholds for single products was developed, based on newly published global sustainability boundaries for the food system (Willett et al., 2019). To account for the different dietary functions of food, different thresholds for evaluating different food groups were applied, thus accounting for the role, and to some extent the nutrient content, of different food products. This enabled evaluation of foods based on the same grounds, i.e., using the global sustainability boundaries and the same functional unit for all food products (1 kg of food at a store in Sweden), while visualizing differences in environmental impacts of products within a certain food group. This revealed the best choice of protein sources, vegetables, etc. The method provides a way to use large amounts of data of varying quality, and reduces the complexity in evaluating the environmental impacts of food. It therefore hopefully facilitates sustainable plant-based food choices, for more environmentally sustainable food consumption.
Highlights
There is consensus that transitioning from Western diets high in meat and dairy to more plant-based diets is important in reducing environmental pressure from the food system (Springmann et al, 2018), as it can lower climate impact (Hallstro€m et al, 2015), land use (Ro€o€s et al, 2017), and energy use (Pimentel and Pimentel, 2003)
Most products received a green star and green rating for climate impact, while inclusion of the other criteria gave a fuller picture of the potential environmental impact of plant-based products than an evaluation based solely on climate impact
We developed a method for environmental multi-criteria evaluation of plant-based food products in terms of climate, biodiversity, water, and pesticide use impacts
Summary
There is consensus that transitioning from Western diets high in meat and dairy to more plant-based diets is important in reducing environmental pressure from the food system (Springmann et al, 2018), as it can lower climate impact (Hallstro€m et al, 2015), land use (Ro€o€s et al, 2017), and energy use (Pimentel and Pimentel, 2003). In many high-income countries, there are currently strong signs of increased interest in plant-based protein sources and rapid product development in ready-made meat alternatives (Foodmanufature, 2020; SVT, 2019). This suggests that a growing number of environmentally concerned consumers are willing to change their food habits. There is a need for accessible and comparable consumer information on the environmental impact of food products (Hellweg and i Canals, 2014)
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