Sustainable food trust
https://www.facebook.com/106118112798911/posts/5455487734528562/The BBC recently published the results of a newly developed algorithm which uses publicly available information to estimate the greenhouse gas and biodiversity impacts of various food items. A chart published in the article shows beef and lamb as most impactful, with Yorkshire puddings, fizzy drinks and ready meals coming out as more environmentally sound.
Such tools seek to offer clarity to consumers, enabling them to make informed choices at the checkout and reduce their ‘foodprint’. Unfortunately, reducing our environmental impact to estimates and carbon-focused solutions risks taking us further away from a transition to sustainable systems. Citizens deserve to be given information which provides a complete picture of the sustainability of the products they buy.
We’d argue that in order for such a tool to measure environmental impact accurately, it would require:
◾️ all food manufacturers to be transparent about their recipes, origin of ingredients, processing, and supply chain. Where and how were ingredients produced?
◾️ for the food categories used to be based on nutritional recommendations rather than retailers' classifications
◾️ for measures of sustainability to be consistent, using one framework and measuring more than just GHG emissions
◾️ environmental indicators weighted equally and linearly, regardless of the agricultural production method.
Our focus is to enable consumers, retailers and policymakers to understand the action required for us to move to more sustainable food systems and products. As the article states, ‘reliable information of this kind hasn’t been available’ – we’d argue that the tool featured in this report brings us no closer to having such information.
How do we get there? A Global Farm Metric. A science-based, common language framework that assesses whole farm sustainability, and draws on social, economic and environmental data from the farm, to ensure true clarity and a full understanding of the impact our choices have.
Global Farm Metric | Measuring On-farm Sustainabilityhttps://www.globalfarmmetric.org/Supermarket food could soon carry eco-labels, says study - BBC Newshttps://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-62460551