Life cycle assessment of animal-based foods and plant-based protein-rich alternatives: a socio-economic perspective
BACKGROUND Extensive research shows that replacing animal protein with plant-based protein in the diet would strongly alleviate the environmental impact of the food system. However, much less attention has been given to the socio-economic considerations of dietary transitions. This study analyses th...
| Autores principales: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Formato: | Journal Article |
| Lenguaje: | Inglés |
| Publicado: |
Wiley
2022
|
| Materias: | |
| Acceso en línea: | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/117214 |
| _version_ | 1855542167290773504 |
|---|---|
| author | Varela Ortega, C. Blanco‐Gutiérrez, I. Manners, Rhys Detzel, A. |
| author_browse | Blanco‐Gutiérrez, I. Detzel, A. Manners, Rhys Varela Ortega, C. |
| author_facet | Varela Ortega, C. Blanco‐Gutiérrez, I. Manners, Rhys Detzel, A. |
| author_sort | Varela Ortega, C. |
| collection | Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace) |
| description | BACKGROUND
Extensive research shows that replacing animal protein with plant-based protein in the diet would strongly alleviate the environmental impact of the food system. However, much less attention has been given to the socio-economic considerations of dietary transitions. This study analyses the socio-economic performance of innovative legume-based food prototypes, developed in the Protein2Food research project, and conventional animal-based products (chicken meat and dairy milk). We implement a social life cycle assessment (sLCA) to quantify and compare their potential socio-economic impacts along the entire life cycle.
RESULTS
Findings from this analysis show that legume-based prototypes and their respective animal-based counterparts have, overall, a comparable socio-economic performance. Looking at the disaggregated life cycle stages, socio-economic hotspots (points of most negative impacts) were mainly identified at the production stage in legume-based products. Farm-level net margin and profitability are low when compared with their animal equivalents. However, at the processing stage, there are socio-economic gains for plant-based products regarding lower unemployment rates. Finally, at the consumption stage, there are mixed results. Plant-based products show worse protein affordability but better nutritional contents (lower saturated fat and cholesterol) than their animal counterparts.
CONCLUSIONS
To improve socio-economic performance of legume-based foods, greater emphasis should be placed upon developing improved processing technologies and supply chains. This would broaden the supply of sustainable protein-rich food options and make these products more economically attractive. The research illustrates that policies should be targeted to the different stages of the food value chain to optimize the development of innovative plant-based foods. |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | CGSpace117214 |
| institution | CGIAR Consortium |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2022 |
| publishDateRange | 2022 |
| publishDateSort | 2022 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| publisherStr | Wiley |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | CGSpace1172142025-11-11T11:06:43Z Life cycle assessment of animal-based foods and plant-based protein-rich alternatives: a socio-economic perspective Varela Ortega, C. Blanco‐Gutiérrez, I. Manners, Rhys Detzel, A. proteins innovation foods assessment sustainability BACKGROUND Extensive research shows that replacing animal protein with plant-based protein in the diet would strongly alleviate the environmental impact of the food system. However, much less attention has been given to the socio-economic considerations of dietary transitions. This study analyses the socio-economic performance of innovative legume-based food prototypes, developed in the Protein2Food research project, and conventional animal-based products (chicken meat and dairy milk). We implement a social life cycle assessment (sLCA) to quantify and compare their potential socio-economic impacts along the entire life cycle. RESULTS Findings from this analysis show that legume-based prototypes and their respective animal-based counterparts have, overall, a comparable socio-economic performance. Looking at the disaggregated life cycle stages, socio-economic hotspots (points of most negative impacts) were mainly identified at the production stage in legume-based products. Farm-level net margin and profitability are low when compared with their animal equivalents. However, at the processing stage, there are socio-economic gains for plant-based products regarding lower unemployment rates. Finally, at the consumption stage, there are mixed results. Plant-based products show worse protein affordability but better nutritional contents (lower saturated fat and cholesterol) than their animal counterparts. CONCLUSIONS To improve socio-economic performance of legume-based foods, greater emphasis should be placed upon developing improved processing technologies and supply chains. This would broaden the supply of sustainable protein-rich food options and make these products more economically attractive. The research illustrates that policies should be targeted to the different stages of the food value chain to optimize the development of innovative plant-based foods. 2022-09 2021-12-23T13:55:08Z 2021-12-23T13:55:08Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/117214 en Open Access application/pdf Wiley Varela‐Ortega, C., Blanco‐Gutiérrez, I., Manners, R. & Detzel, A. (2021). Life cycle assessment of animal‐based foods and plant‐based protein‐rich alternatives: a socio‐economic perspective. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, 1-18. |
| spellingShingle | proteins innovation foods assessment sustainability Varela Ortega, C. Blanco‐Gutiérrez, I. Manners, Rhys Detzel, A. Life cycle assessment of animal-based foods and plant-based protein-rich alternatives: a socio-economic perspective |
| title | Life cycle assessment of animal-based foods and plant-based protein-rich alternatives: a socio-economic perspective |
| title_full | Life cycle assessment of animal-based foods and plant-based protein-rich alternatives: a socio-economic perspective |
| title_fullStr | Life cycle assessment of animal-based foods and plant-based protein-rich alternatives: a socio-economic perspective |
| title_full_unstemmed | Life cycle assessment of animal-based foods and plant-based protein-rich alternatives: a socio-economic perspective |
| title_short | Life cycle assessment of animal-based foods and plant-based protein-rich alternatives: a socio-economic perspective |
| title_sort | life cycle assessment of animal based foods and plant based protein rich alternatives a socio economic perspective |
| topic | proteins innovation foods assessment sustainability |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/117214 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT varelaortegac lifecycleassessmentofanimalbasedfoodsandplantbasedproteinrichalternativesasocioeconomicperspective AT blancogutierrezi lifecycleassessmentofanimalbasedfoodsandplantbasedproteinrichalternativesasocioeconomicperspective AT mannersrhys lifecycleassessmentofanimalbasedfoodsandplantbasedproteinrichalternativesasocioeconomicperspective AT detzela lifecycleassessmentofanimalbasedfoodsandplantbasedproteinrichalternativesasocioeconomicperspective |