- transportation is only a small part of the carbon footprint of food. Carbon emissions in agricultrual industry are generated by everything from farm equipment and vehicles to drying crops, keeping poultry in heated buildings and cultivating fresh produce in hot houses. Plus, inputs manufacturing [chemical fertilisers and animal feeds] also consumes energy.
- livestock, which occupy about 30 per cent of the planet's surface, generate more greenhouse gas emissions than transport
- less than half the nitrogen applied to crops in fertiliser is actually used, the rest leaches into soil and rivers
Yet, the response by industry shows how far we are from recognising and supporting sustainable development. "Nine companies - including Cadbury, Coca-Cola and Müller Dairy - joined the businesses that have signed up to use a carbon footprinting methodology being developed by the Carbon Trust in partnership with the UK's department for environment, food and rural affairs and BSI British Standards."
Carbon is one part of the global environmental footprint. What about social issues, and equality, gender, and equity of opportunities. We need our industries to be bolder. We need to jump back to logical approaches that generate win-wins.
We salute Paul Monaghan, Head of Ethics and Sustainability, The Co-operative Group who commented: "The development of a credible but practical product carbon footprinting standard is long overdue, and The Co-operative Food looks forward to playing a full part. We will be particularly interested to see how carbon reduction can be pursued whilst safeguarding the livelihoods of the world's poorest farmers and the role, if any, of good quality carbon offset".
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