TABLE 6.
Mean changes in environmental impacts across the entire sample after a single-item substitution of selected additional foods among those who consumed them1
| Carbon footprint | Water scarcity footprint | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Original food | Substituted food | n (%)2 | Absolute change, mean ± SE, kg CO2-eq/2000 kcal | Percentage change, mean ± SE, % | P value3 | Absolute change, mean ± SE, liter-eq/2000 kcal | Percentage change, mean ± SE, % | P value3 |
| Grapes | Apples | 1144 (7.1) | 0.00 ± 0.00 | 0.0 ± 0.0 | <0.001 | –41 ± 2 | –1.2 ± 0.1 | <0.001 |
| Lemon juice | Orange juice | 447 (2.3) | 0.00 ± 0.00 | 0.0 ± 0.0 | <0.001 | –4 ± 1 | –0.2 ± 0.0 | <0.001 |
| Asparagus | Peas | 160 (1.3) | 0.00 ± 0.00 | –0.1 ± 0.0 | <0.001 | –43 ± 7 | –0.6 ± 0.1 | <0.001 |
| Broccoli | Brussel sprouts | 644 (4.1) | 0.00 ± 0.00 | –0.1 ± 0.0 | <0.001 | –27 ± 2 | –0.7 ± 0.1 | <0.001 |
| White bread | Whole-wheat bread | 6087 (37.6) | 0.00 ± 0.00 | 0.0 ± 0.0 | 0.6932 | 1 ± 0 | 0.0 ± 0.0 | <0.001 |
| White rice | Bulgur wheat | 1617 (8.7) | –0.01 ± 0.00 | –0.3 ± 0.0 | <0.001 | –10 ± 1 | –0.5 ± 0.0 | <0.001 |
| Dairy milk | Soymilk | 6995 (43.1) | –0.12 ± 0.00 | –3.5 ± 0.1 | <0.001 | –43 ± 1 | –2.2 ± 0.1 | <0.001 |
| Almonds | Peanuts | 315 (2.4) | 0.00 ± 0.00 | –0.1 ± 0.0 | <0.001 | –34 ± 4 | –0.7 ± 0.1 | <0.001 |
| Shrimp | Cod | 480 (2.6) | –0.07 ± 0.01 | –0.9 ± 0.1 | <0.001 | –3 ± 0 | –0.2 ± 0.0 | <0.001 |
| Beef4 | Chicken/pork | 3320 (19.8) | –0.74 ± 0.03 | –9.6 ± 0.3 | <0.001 | –192 ± 7 | –5.9 ± 0.2 | <0.001 |
Single-item substitutions were made for individuals who consumed one of the foods in the first column above. If the individual consumed the food more than once on the 24-h recall day, only 1 instance, the one with the highest carbon footprint, was substituted. Changes in environmental impacts are averaged across the entire sample and include those individuals who did not consume these foods and therefore had zero change in impact. See Supplementary Table 9 for these foods and their substitutions. kg CO2-eq, kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalents; liter-eq, liter-equivalent.
Number and percentage of respondents who consumed this food.
P value determined from a paired t test.
This is the main substitution from Table 3 that is displayed again here for convenience.