Summary
This commentary from Rothamsted Research synthesizes methodological developments in nutritional life cycle assessment (nLCA) emerging from a 6-year strategic research programme. Drawing on high-resolution agronomical data from long-term experiments and the North Wyke Farm Platform, the authors document progress in integrating human nutrition outcomes with environmental footprinting across livestock, grassland and arable systems, whilst identifying co-benefits and trade-offs in efficient nutrient use. The work positions nLCA as an advancing methodology for evaluating sustainable food production and outlines future research directions across entire agri-food supply chains.
Regional applicability
This work is conducted at Rothamsted Research in the United Kingdom and utilises UK National Bioscience Research Infrastructure, making findings directly applicable to UK agricultural policy and practice. The methodological advances and long-term experimental data are particularly relevant for informing UK food system sustainability assessment and farm-level decision-making.
Key measures
Nutritional life cycle assessment (nLCA) methodology; environmental footprinting incorporating nutritional outcomes; nutrient use efficiency across scales from pot to landscape
Outcomes reported
This commentary synthesizes methodological progress in incorporating human nutrition into environmental footprinting through nutritional life cycle assessment (nLCA), drawing on 6 years of research across livestock, grassland and arable systems. The paper discusses advances in nLCA methodology and identifies future pathways for exploration across agri-food supply chains.
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