The aim was to estimate the greenhouse gas emissions (GHGE) associated with self-selected diets and to evaluate the impact of modifying dietary structures on diet-associated GHGE. Food consumption data from 1918 adults participating in the French national dietary survey and GHGE of 73 highly consumed foods (in g CO2e/100 g of edible food) were used to estimate the GHGE of each individual diet. The mean diet-associated GHGE was 4170 g CO2e/day and a high inter-individual variability was observed. When the total caloric intakes were reduced to meet the individual energy needs, the diet-associated GHGE decreased by either 10.7% or 2.4%, depending on the assumption made on the average physical activity level of the population. The meat and deli meat food group represented the strongest diet-associated GHGE contributor, but the impact of different meat reduction scenarios was modest. In particular, when fruit and vegetables were iso-calorically substituted for meat, either null or even positive diet-associated GHGE variations were observed because the needed amounts of fruit and vegetables to maintain the caloric content of the diet were high. Therefore, substituting fruit and vegetables for meat (especially deli meat) may be desirable for health but is not necessarily the best approach to decreasing diet-associated GHGE.
Greenhouse gas emissions of self-selected individual diets in France: Changing the Q23 diet structure or consuming less?
Résumé
en
The aim was to estimate the greenhouse gas emissions (GHGE) associated with self-selected diets and to evaluate the impact of modifying dietary structures on diet-associated GHGE. Food consumption data from 1918 adults participating in the French national dietary survey and GHGE of 73 highly consumed foods (in g CO2e/100 g of edible food) were used to estimate the GHGE of each individual diet. The mean diet-associated GHGE was 4170 g CO2e/day and a high inter-individual variability was observed. When the total caloric intakes were reduced to meet the individual energy needs, the diet-associated GHGE decreased by either 10.7% or 2.4%, depending on the assumption made on the average physical activity level of the population. The meat and deli meat food group represented the strongest diet-associated GHGE contributor, but the impact of different meat reduction scenarios was modest. In particular, when fruit and vegetables were iso-calorically substituted for meat, either null or even positive diet-associated GHGE variations were observed because the needed amounts of fruit and vegetables to maintain the caloric content of the diet were high. Therefore, substituting fruit and vegetables for meat (especially deli meat) may be desirable for health but is not necessarily the best approach to decreasing diet-associated GHGE.
Auteur(s)
Florent Vieux1
, Nicole N. Darmon1
, Djilali Touazi2
, Louis Georges Soler2
1
NORT -
Nutrition, obésité et risque thrombotique
( 180118 )
- Faculté de Médecine Timone - 27 Bd Jean Moulin 13385 Marseille Cedex 5
- France
Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique UMR_A1260 ( 92114 )
;
Aix Marseille Université UMR_A1260 ( 198056 )
;
Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale U1062 ( 303623 )
2
ALISS -
Alimentation et sciences sociales
( 90563 )
- 65 boulevard de Brandebourg 94205 Ivry sur Seine
- France
Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique UR1303 ( 92114 )
Audience
Internationale
Date de publication
2012
Volume
75
Page/Identifiant
91-101
Localisation géographique du document
UR 1303 Alimentation et Sciences Sociales, Centre de recherche de Versailles-Grignon, 94205 IVRY-SUR-SEINE CEDEX, FRA
Public visé
Scientifique
Vulgarisation
Non
Nom de la revue
Ecological Economics
(ISSN : 0921-8009, ISSN électronique : 1873-6106)
Publié par Elsevier
Revue non référencée dans Sherpa-Romeo
Comité de lecture
Oui
Domaine(s)
Sciences de l'Homme et Société/Economies et finances
Sciences du Vivant [q-bio]/Alimentation et Nutrition
Financement
ADEME (French Environment and Energy Management Agency); INRA (French National Institute for Agricultural Research); INRA divisions of Nutrition, Chemical Food Safety and Consumer Behaviour and of Social Sciences, Agriculture and Food, Rural Development and Environment
Florent Vieux, Nicole N. Darmon, Djilali Touazi, Louis Georges Soler. Greenhouse gas emissions of self-selected individual diets in France: Changing the Q23 diet structure or consuming less?. Ecological Economics, 2012, 75, pp.91-101. ⟨10.1016/j.ecolecon.2012.01.003⟩. ⟨hal-02649979⟩