Shopping for lower carbon

The net-zero carbon target that the UK government last year locked us into achieving by 2050 (as an extension of the original Climate Change Act 2008), means that the nation will likely need a lot of help from us. Not just in the areas we already probably think about more often now - the type of car we choose, the LED bulb or the renewable energy contract - but us as food shoppers.

That is because in western economies, the food we buy can account for around 30% of all household greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions!

Carbon Labelling:
The idea of carbon labelling has been around a little while now, but has had a mixed reception - could it in fact hinder, rather than help our zero carbon ambitions? The thought behind this argument is that it will add to the already complex level of food labelling, causing more confusion than it helps. Carbon labelling  would consist of rolling the amount of GHGs a product has emitted during its entire production process from source to basket, all into one single number.

Many products have already been carbon footprinted in this way, and the data exists out there, so this would perhaps be the logical next step?

Human behaviour:
Shopping to reduce your carbon footprint may, of course, mean giving up something you like. There is also a feeling of potentially acting alone - e.g. only one person giving up some of their weekly meat intake is almost meaningless in the bigger picture, if no-one else does the same; it only works if everyone is doing it. But if everyone thinks that way, then that is exactly what will happen!

There are things that drive consumer behaviour;

• A Carbon tax would have impacts that will add costs to the customer.
• How products are sold is important: make socially desirable options much simpler e.g. put the product in the most visible shelf space.
• Behavioural change: a change in mindset is needed, so providing information on the impacts of particular food choices to raise awareness, is vital.

Carbon Footprint of food:

1. Inputs: the fertilisers etc. used to grow the food.
2. Production of raw materials
3. Transportation: getting the raw materials to their destination
4. Manufacturing process
5. Distribution: getting the product in store, and the energy needed for storage etc.
6. Consumption and Waste: how you store the food, how you cook the food, what happens to the leftovers etc.

Carbon Tax?
All food products have a GHG footprint, so it is recommended that if a Carbon Tax was introduced, it should be on all products, but in a proportional manner. 

• This would not necessarily lead to people spending less money, it would just encourage them to make wiser choices.
• It could also possibly lead to an increase in supplier innovation to reduce the footprint of their products.
• This then links back to the labelling - which could give customers the information needed to ensure that they spend more on the food itself, rather than the tax.

Using language that makes consumers reflect on how much they have helped the environment in the past is important, as it might help them consider their choices more.

Industry Reaction:
The Chilled Food Association said;

"For the chilled food sector, we believe that carbon footprint labelling of individual foods is misguided and potentially misleading to consumers. We favour the carbon footprinting of the businesses making foods which we believe to be far more relevant to identifying and addressing areas for carbon reduction than carbon footprint labelling."

They cite issues with seasonal products, short life spans and getting raw materials from different sources each time, as blockers to consistent labelling. They also mention that how the consumer ends up cooking a product will also make a difference (i.e. baking, microwaving etc.).

They say that these factors all go to making the calculation of carbon density very complicated and resource heavy. They also point out that a products carbon number may change with each batch, depending on where raw materials were sourced - and this may be a point of confusion for consumers.

Giving consumers a nudge:
A study published in Nature Climate Change, says that front of packet carbon labelling is effective in driving environmentally friendly food choices.

• It 'nudges' peoples choices, e.g. less meat, swapping exotic fruit for local, seasonal produce.
• Consumers tend to massively underestimate the environmental impacts of the food they eat.
• The study included 1,000 US consumers, who were asked to estimate the energy consumption or GHG emissions associated with 19 different foods, or from using 18 different household appliances for one hour.
• The results showed a much bigger shortfall in their estimates for the food impacts than for the domestic appliance impacts.

This tendency to underestimate impacts is reflected in people's food choices. People tend to be unwilling to give up relatively energy intensive foods like beef, because in part because they don't fully understand the full environmental impact.

The labelling used in the study had 'light bulb minutes' to inform on the GHGs associated with the lifecycle of a particular food product. It also included a relative environmental impact score, comparing it to other foodstuffs - from 1 (Green - low impact) to 11 (Red - high impact).


So it would seem that whatever sections of the industry say, we are more than likely to start seeing carbon labelling on at least some of our food products in the not too distant future. There is always a balance with these things between providing consumers with good information to make informed choices, versus coming across too preachy in tone, versus overloading people with too much information, leading them to potentially switch off and revert back to what is familiar to them. But as technology moves on, and perhaps more importantly, with new generations more than savvy enough to navigate their way around this information provision - that we will maybe see something simple like a QR code on the label, and the information being accessed via an app!?

Research:
Transform Magazine (November 2019 issue)
https://www.chilledfood.org 
https://www.foodnavigator.com/Article/2018/12/18/Carbon-labels-drive-more-sustainable-food-choices-scientists-confirm