The consumption of food by one Dane emits more than 2 tonnes of greenhouse gases every year

Which is more than what should be emitted from our total activities if we wish to avoid climate change

This corresponds to more than 20% of our total greenhouse gas emissions

Source: Getty Images

If everyone in the world ate like us we’d need one planet earth just to serve our food needs

.. with no land, energy or resources left for anything else.

Meat is the biggest problem… Consumption of meat, especially beef, and dairy products causes a quarter of all environmental pressures from consumptionand Danes are record meat eaters !

Source: Getty Images

Danes eat 3 times more beef than the world average

more than all other Europeans ….and even more than Americans!Danish men eat more than twice as much beef as recommended by health experts

Eating a burger emits just as many greenhouse gases as driving 10km in your car

It takes 500 litres of water to produce 1 kg of potatoes

.. 1,000 litres to grow a kg of wheat

.. and 13,000 litres to produce a kg of beef!

But you don’t have to be vegetarian to eat sustainably

Eating chicken instead of beef reduces climate impacts from your dinner by a factor 5

Source: The Richards Group

Organic food is also more sustainable

but the difference is less marked for vegetables, milk, butter, flour and oats than for meat

Organic food still costs more than conventional food..Increasing food prices haven’t affected Danes’ love of organic food….we bought 20-25% more organic food this year than last yearAnd Danes love it !

Source: Getty Images

…….but more than half of this is our own .but more than half of this is our own transport between supermarket and transport between supermarket and home!home!

About 11% of total impacts from food About 11% of total impacts from food are from transportationare from transportation25% of all our food is imported25% of all our food is imported

Local is not always the best environmental option

It takes 3 times more energy to grow Danish tomatoes off-season than to grow and import Spanish tomatoes

BUT when in season local fruit and vegetables are always best

For seasonal local vegetables most of the life-cycle impacts can come from cookingwhy not eat raw, protect the environment and get more vitamins at the same time

Frozen fries and potato chips lead to 10-15 times greater climate impacts per kilo than common or garden potatoes the less processing the better

Eating more healthily

…less red meat, less frozen and processed food and more fresh vegetables …

gives the same environmental savings as using 10% less petrol, heat and electricity together

….and can save 20% on your food budget !

We throw one third of the food we buy in the dustbin

An average family with kids throws 10,000 kroner of good food in the bin each yearMost of it could have been eaten

Source: The Richards Group

You can reduce environmental impacts from your food byEating less beef and dairy products

Eating organic and local seasonal food

Avoiding throwing food in the bin and only buying what you need