Eating green: food type trumps distance
- added April 19, 2008
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- uroborus8
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According to a new study released by Christopher Weber and H. Scott Matthews of Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pa., "who compared the greenhouse gas emissions caused by producing and transporting various categories of food in the United States", the type of food you eat has a higher impact on green house gas emissions than the distance your food traveled.
The food with the worst carbon footprint is beef. Cattle fart a lot of methane, a very toxic greenhouse gas 23 times more toxic than carbon dioxide. Their poop produces nitrous oxide (N2O) which is even worse than the methane.
"A majority of food's climate impact is due to non-CO2 greenhouse gases".
This new study does not mean you can stop buying local produce instead of produce grown in China. Local organics use less pesticide, help the local economy, and are usually fresher.
The food with the worst carbon footprint is beef. Cattle fart a lot of methane, a very toxic greenhouse gas 23 times more toxic than carbon dioxide. Their poop produces nitrous oxide (N2O) which is even worse than the methane.
"A majority of food's climate impact is due to non-CO2 greenhouse gases".
This new study does not mean you can stop buying local produce instead of produce grown in China. Local organics use less pesticide, help the local economy, and are usually fresher.
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