Carbon footprints of Indian food items

Carbon emission occurs during various stages of life cycle of food products. Greenhouse gases (GHG) emission from 24 Indian food items showed that animal food products (meat and milk) and rice cultivation mostly contributed to methane (CH4) emission, while food products from crops contributed to emi...

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Main Authors: Pathak, Himanshu, Jain, Niveta, Bhatia, Arti, Patel J, Aggarwal, Pramod K.
Format: Journal Article
Language:Inglés
Published: Elsevier 2010
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/33405
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author Pathak, Himanshu
Jain, Niveta
Bhatia, Arti
Patel J
Aggarwal, Pramod K.
author_browse Aggarwal, Pramod K.
Bhatia, Arti
Jain, Niveta
Patel J
Pathak, Himanshu
author_facet Pathak, Himanshu
Jain, Niveta
Bhatia, Arti
Patel J
Aggarwal, Pramod K.
author_sort Pathak, Himanshu
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Carbon emission occurs during various stages of life cycle of food products. Greenhouse gases (GHG) emission from 24 Indian food items showed that animal food products (meat and milk) and rice cultivation mostly contributed to methane (CH4) emission, while food products from crops contributed to emission of nitrous oxide (N2O). Emission of CO2 occurred during farm operations, production of farm inputs, transport, processing and preparation of food. The GHG emission during the life cycle of cooked rice was 2.8 times the GHG emission during the life cycle of chapatti, a product of wheat flour. Mutton emitted 11.9 times as much GHG as milk, 12.1 times fish, 12.9 times rice and 36.5 times chapatti. As Indians mostly consume fresh foods produced locally, 87% emission came from food production followed by preparation (10%), processing (2%) and transportation (1%). For a balanced diet (vegetarian) an adult Indian man consumed 1165 g food and emitted 723.7 g CO2 eq. GHG d−1. A non-vegetarian meal with mutton emitted GHG 1.8 times of a vegetarian meal, 1.5 times of a non-vegetarian meal with chicken and an ovo-vegetarian meal and 1.4 times a lacto-vegetarian meal. Change in food habit thus could offer a possibility for GHG mitigation.
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spelling CGSpace334052024-05-01T08:17:32Z Carbon footprints of Indian food items Pathak, Himanshu Jain, Niveta Bhatia, Arti Patel J Aggarwal, Pramod K. emission agriculture greenhouse gases climate diet Carbon emission occurs during various stages of life cycle of food products. Greenhouse gases (GHG) emission from 24 Indian food items showed that animal food products (meat and milk) and rice cultivation mostly contributed to methane (CH4) emission, while food products from crops contributed to emission of nitrous oxide (N2O). Emission of CO2 occurred during farm operations, production of farm inputs, transport, processing and preparation of food. The GHG emission during the life cycle of cooked rice was 2.8 times the GHG emission during the life cycle of chapatti, a product of wheat flour. Mutton emitted 11.9 times as much GHG as milk, 12.1 times fish, 12.9 times rice and 36.5 times chapatti. As Indians mostly consume fresh foods produced locally, 87% emission came from food production followed by preparation (10%), processing (2%) and transportation (1%). For a balanced diet (vegetarian) an adult Indian man consumed 1165 g food and emitted 723.7 g CO2 eq. GHG d−1. A non-vegetarian meal with mutton emitted GHG 1.8 times of a vegetarian meal, 1.5 times of a non-vegetarian meal with chicken and an ovo-vegetarian meal and 1.4 times a lacto-vegetarian meal. Change in food habit thus could offer a possibility for GHG mitigation. 2010-10-15 2013-07-31T11:48:13Z 2013-07-31T11:48:13Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/33405 en Limited Access Elsevier Pathak H, Jain N, Bhatia A, Patel J, Aggarwal PK. 2010. Carbon footprints of Indian food items. Agriculture Ecosystems and Environment 139: 66–73.
spellingShingle emission
agriculture
greenhouse gases
climate
diet
Pathak, Himanshu
Jain, Niveta
Bhatia, Arti
Patel J
Aggarwal, Pramod K.
Carbon footprints of Indian food items
title Carbon footprints of Indian food items
title_full Carbon footprints of Indian food items
title_fullStr Carbon footprints of Indian food items
title_full_unstemmed Carbon footprints of Indian food items
title_short Carbon footprints of Indian food items
title_sort carbon footprints of indian food items
topic emission
agriculture
greenhouse gases
climate
diet
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/33405
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AT jainniveta carbonfootprintsofindianfooditems
AT bhatiaarti carbonfootprintsofindianfooditems
AT patelj carbonfootprintsofindianfooditems
AT aggarwalpramodk carbonfootprintsofindianfooditems