The Environmental Impact of Food

One of the reasons I reverted to vegetarianism was the environmental impact of meat, so I was taken aback to read that cheese is the 3rd-highest in terms of CO2 production, ahead of pork, salmon, turkey and chicken. Detailed figures are on p.6 of the full report. I have to think about this for a while.

The closing paragraphs also say that locally-grown and organic foods reduce the impact. That’s interesting, as I have long assumed that environmental impact is roughly proportional to cost. My thinking is that $2 organic broccoli requires more labor than $1 regular broccoli, and the extra workers drive, eat, etc., all of which adds to the final environmental impact. (Yes, there is a trade-off of the benefit of not using pesticides vs. other impacts.)