The environmental effect of utilising domestic plant protein potential and replacing other protein sources in the diet in Norway

Abstract

From the perspective of health and environment, the consumption of red and processed meat in Norway should be reduced. It is possible to increase domestic production of plant protein from the high protein crops (HPC) peas, faba beans, rapeseed and turnip rapeseed. The aim of this study was to document environmental impacts and impacts on demand for food and feed when increasing the Norwegian production of HPC and using the plant proteins to replace other food protein sources, in particular animal-based-protein. In this study, results from life cycle assessments of certain food groups, import/export statistics, data on food waste and data on feed recipes were used to quantify the environmental impact of realising the full production potential of HPC and using them for human food replacing. Four scenarios have been developed for the Norwegian population's diet in 2030: 1) BUSINESS-AS-USUAL: 2) PLANT: red meat in the diet is partially replaced by HPC; 3) CHICKEN: as scenario PLANT but with an additional reduction of red meat in the diet replaced by chicken meat; 4) SEAFOOD: as CHICKEN but replacing red meat with seafood rather than with chicken meat.Compared to the BUSINESS-AS-USUAL scenario, the impacts covered in this study would for the scenarios, would be decreased annually by 5 and 20 %. For example emission of greenhouse gases would be reduced annually by between 1.07 and 1.76 million tonnes of CO2-eq for the various scenarios, equivalent to 10–16 % of emissions associated with Norway's total food production.At the same time, less food and feed (141,000–420,000 t per year) and agricultural land (34,000–89,000 ha) would be needed to satisfy the Norwegian population's need for protein. The results shows that increased production of HPC and utilisation for food in Norway could achieve large reductions in environmental impacts, reduce pressure on agricultural land, increase Norway's national self-sufficiency and contribute to a more healthy diet.