Table 11.
Environmental footprints of various protein sources.
| Environmental Footprints |
Units of Measurement | Red Meat | Poultry | FISH | EGGS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carbon footprint |
kg CO2-eq/kg (food) |
25.58/26.61 [212] a 5.77 [212] b |
3.65 [212] | 3.49 [212] | 3.46 [212] | |
| Water footprint (total) |
m3/ton (food) | 8761/15415 [213] a 5988 [213] b |
4325 [213] | 1974 [214] | 3265 [213] | |
| Land footprint |
m2/kg (food) | 308.58/542.82 [215] a 19.53 [215] b |
19.22 [215] | 0–10 [216] | 17.83 [215] | |
| CED e | MJ/kg (food) | 37–82 [217] a 25–31 [217] b |
18–33 [217] | No data | 12–17 [217] | |
| Use of chemicals |
Fertilizers (N footprint and P footprint) |
10 g N/serving | 30.01/30.27 [6] a 56.68 [6] b |
55.22 [6] | 18.46 [6] | 25.61 [6] |
| 10 g P/serving | 5.43/5.89 [6] a 9.75 [6] b |
9.92 [6] | 3.98 [6] | 4.40 [6] | ||
| Pesticides | / | No data | No data | No data | No data | |
| Biodiversity footprint | / f | VERY HIGH [218] |
VERY HIGH [218] |
VERY HIGH [110] |
HIGH [110] | |
|
Environmental
footprints |
Units of measurement |
Dairy
products |
Legumes | Nuts | Cereal grains | |
| Carbon footprint |
kg CO2-eq/kg (food) |
8.55/9.25 [212] c. 1.29 [212] d/2.59 [219] d |
1.20 [212] | 0.51 [212] | 0.50 [212] | |
| Water footprint (total) |
m3/ton (food) | 5553/6760 [213] c 1020 [213] d/1485 [219] d |
9063 [213] | 4055 [213] | 1644 [213] | |
| Land footprint |
m2/kg (food) | 60.27/65.20 [215] c 9.09 [215] d/12 [219] d |
6.96 [215] | 11.19 [215] | 2.81 [215] | |
| CED e | MJ/kg (food) | 38 [217] c 3.0–3.1 [217] d |
2.9–7.4 [217] | No data | 1.7–9.6 [217] | |
| Use of chemicals | Fertilizers (N footprint and P footprint) |
10 g N/serving | 15.18 [6] | 0 [6] | 4.28 [6] | No data |
| 10 g P/serving | 3.79 [6] | 0 [6] | 0.63 [6] | No data | ||
| Pesticides | / | No data | No data | No data | No data | |
| Biodiversity footprint | / f | high [110] | low [110] | high [110] | intermediate [220] g | |
a Refers to beef; b refers to pork; c refers to cheese/butter (dairy products with higher fat content); d refers to milk/yogurt (dairy products with lower fat content); e ranges of data have been included for this footprint, because in the study from which they were extrapolated (a study that is among the most recent and authoritative), only specific foods were considered and not the food groups mentioned in this table; f VERY HIGH = strong negative impact; HIGH = moderate negative impact; INTERMEDIATE = neutral impact; LOW = positive impact. Scale made taking as reference specific table of the HCWH report “Redefining protein: adjusting diets to impact public health and conserve resources” [110]; g whole grains must be differentiated from refined ones, as the impact of the former is decidedly less.