The ecological footprint of swedish sugar consumption
Climate change, loss of biodiversity and an ongoing population growth are challenging the global food production. Land is a scarce resource that is demanded for many purposes, reason why it is relevant to question how the arable land is used in the food production. Some commodities, including refine...
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| Format: | M2 |
| Language: | Inglés Swedish |
| Published: |
SLU/Dept. of Crop Production Ecology
2019
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| Subjects: |
| _version_ | 1855572443715862528 |
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| author | Holmstrand, Karin |
| author_browse | Holmstrand, Karin |
| author_facet | Holmstrand, Karin |
| author_sort | Holmstrand, Karin |
| collection | Epsilon Archive for Student Projects |
| description | Climate change, loss of biodiversity and an ongoing population growth are challenging the global food production. Land is a scarce resource that is demanded for many purposes, reason why it is relevant to question how the arable land is used in the food production. Some commodities, including refined sugar, are not essential for the human diet, but are still consumed in higher quantities than are healthy for us. This report aims to investigate the ecological footprint of the sugar consumption in Sweden, focussing on land use. The research questions are:
1) Where does the sugar consumed in Sweden come from – geographically and crop-wise?
2) How much land is required for producing the sugar consumed in Sweden?
3) Does the Swedish consumption require more land than the current Swedish production can provide?
4) What are the environmental and social benefits of the current production, in comparison to those of alternative land uses? Aspects including food security, other food production, organic agriculture, nature conservation for biodiversity and biofuels are considered in three plausible scenarios.
The report is based on a literature review and an analysis of data collected from statistical bureaus and institutions, and it discusses three different scenarios of how the sugar supply can be managed in the future. The results show a present gap between the Swedish sugar production and the Swedish sugar consumption, which can be solved either by importing sugar (scenario 1), by increasing the Swedish sugar beet production (scenario 2) or by adjusting the consumption (scenario 3). The conclusion is that, despite other potential environmental benefits from the first two scenarios, scenario 3 is the only way of reducing the ecological footprint of the Swedish consumption. |
| format | M2 |
| id | RepoSLU14642 |
| institution | Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences |
| language | Inglés swe |
| publishDate | 2019 |
| publishDateSort | 2019 |
| publisher | SLU/Dept. of Crop Production Ecology |
| publisherStr | SLU/Dept. of Crop Production Ecology |
| record_format | eprints |
| spelling | RepoSLU146422020-06-04T12:50:21Z The ecological footprint of swedish sugar consumption Den svenska sockerkonsumtionens ekologiska fotavtryck Holmstrand, Karin land use sustainability sugar Climate change, loss of biodiversity and an ongoing population growth are challenging the global food production. Land is a scarce resource that is demanded for many purposes, reason why it is relevant to question how the arable land is used in the food production. Some commodities, including refined sugar, are not essential for the human diet, but are still consumed in higher quantities than are healthy for us. This report aims to investigate the ecological footprint of the sugar consumption in Sweden, focussing on land use. The research questions are: 1) Where does the sugar consumed in Sweden come from – geographically and crop-wise? 2) How much land is required for producing the sugar consumed in Sweden? 3) Does the Swedish consumption require more land than the current Swedish production can provide? 4) What are the environmental and social benefits of the current production, in comparison to those of alternative land uses? Aspects including food security, other food production, organic agriculture, nature conservation for biodiversity and biofuels are considered in three plausible scenarios. The report is based on a literature review and an analysis of data collected from statistical bureaus and institutions, and it discusses three different scenarios of how the sugar supply can be managed in the future. The results show a present gap between the Swedish sugar production and the Swedish sugar consumption, which can be solved either by importing sugar (scenario 1), by increasing the Swedish sugar beet production (scenario 2) or by adjusting the consumption (scenario 3). The conclusion is that, despite other potential environmental benefits from the first two scenarios, scenario 3 is the only way of reducing the ecological footprint of the Swedish consumption. Klimatförändringar, förlust av biologisk mångfald och en pågående befolkningstillväxt utgör ett hot mot den globala livsmedelsproduktionen. Marken är en begränsad resurs som behövs för många syften, till exempel mat- och bränsleproduktion, artrika naturområden och kolsänkor. Av denna anledning är det relevant att ifrågasätta hur jordbruksmarken används i vår livsmedelsproduktion. Några matvaror, som exempelvis vitt socker, innehåller inga för människan nödvändiga näringsämnen. Trots det konsumerar svenskar mer än vad som är hälsosamt. Denna rapport syftar till att utreda den svenska sockerkonsumtionens ekologiska fotavtryck, med fokus på markanvändning. Följande frågor har ställts: 1) Varifrån kommer sockret som konsumeras i Sverige – geografiskt och med avseende på gröda? 2) Vad motsvarar konsumtionen i markanvändning? 3) Är det någon skillnad mellan den svenska produktionen och konsumtionen, med avseende på markanvändning? 4) Vilka miljömässiga och sociala för- och nackdelar finns med den nuvarande sockerförsörjningen, jämfört med andra alternativ? Aspekter som livsmedelssäkerhet, annan matproduktion, ekologiskt jordbruk, bevarade naturmiljöer för biologisk mångfald och biobränsleproduktion beaktas i tre tänkbara scenarier. Rapporten bygger dels på en litteraturstudie, dels på en analys av data hämtad från statistiska byråer och institutioner, och den resonerar kring tre olika scenarier för hur sockerförsörjningen kan komma att ske i framtiden. Resultatet visar att det finns en lucka mellan vad som produceras och vad som konsumeras, vilket kan mötas antingen genom import (scenario 1), ökad svensk produktion (scenario 2) eller genom att begränsa konsumtionen (scenario 3). Trots eventuella miljövinster i vissa aspekter från scenario 1 och 2, blir slut-satsen att scenario 3 är det enda alternativ som leder till att Sveriges ekologiska fotavtryck minskar. SLU/Dept. of Crop Production Ecology 2019 M2 eng swe https://stud.epsilon.slu.se/14642/ |
| spellingShingle | land use sustainability sugar Holmstrand, Karin The ecological footprint of swedish sugar consumption |
| title | The ecological footprint of swedish sugar consumption |
| title_full | The ecological footprint of swedish sugar consumption |
| title_fullStr | The ecological footprint of swedish sugar consumption |
| title_full_unstemmed | The ecological footprint of swedish sugar consumption |
| title_short | The ecological footprint of swedish sugar consumption |
| title_sort | ecological footprint of swedish sugar consumption |
| topic | land use sustainability sugar |