Pulse Brain · Growing Health Evidence Index
Tier 1 — Meta-analysis / systematic reviewPeer-reviewed

Reducing food's environmental impacts through producers and consumers (vol 363, eaaw9908, 2019)

Joseph Poore, Thomas Nemecek

2019

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Summary

This 2019 global assessment, published in a high-impact venue, synthesises environmental data across food production systems to quantify impacts and model reduction scenarios at both producer and consumer level. The work appears to integrate life-cycle assessment methodologies across multiple food types and regions, offering evidence-based pathways for environmental mitigation in food systems. As suggested by the title, the analysis distinguishes between supply-side (producer) and demand-side (consumer) levers for reducing food's environmental footprint.

UK applicability

The global scope and commodity-level findings are directly relevant to UK food policy and procurement, particularly for understanding the environmental trade-offs of domestic versus imported foods and informing dietary recommendations. UK producers and retailers can use the quantified impact benchmarks to identify priority commodities and production practices for environmental improvement.

Key measures

Environmental impact metrics per food product (likely greenhouse gas emissions, land occupation, freshwater use, eutrophication potential); producer-level and consumer-level mitigation strategies

Outcomes reported

The study assessed the environmental impacts of food production across multiple categories and geographies, and examined the potential for reducing those impacts through producer and consumer interventions. Likely reported metrics on greenhouse gas emissions, land use, water use, and eutrophication across food commodities.

Theme
Climate & resilience
Subject
Climate & greenhouse gas mitigation
Study type
Meta-analysis
Study design
Meta-analysis
Source type
Peer-reviewed study
Status
Published
Geography
Global
System type
Food supply chain
Catalogue ID
BFmor3gds4-8bumcu

Topic tags

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