Food and the Environment 

The production, processing, packaging and distribution of food are responsible for about one sixth of an average person’s CO₂ emissions per year.  That's about 2.1 tonnes per person every year, almost double what is generated from car use and home heating.  The largest factors are fertiliser use and production, methane from animals, transport, and packaging production.

Part of the problem is that we have come to expect out of season produce all year round.  As a result, food now travels much further than it ever did.  We also use far more processed, chilled and packaged food than previous generations, the production of which is highly energy intensive.

Many eco minded people choose organic food.  This offers some advantages over industrial agriculture – it is less oil dependant, preserves biodiversity and soil structures, and benefits wildlife – but yields are lower, which is a challenge in the face of a growing global population.  Another challenge is that as the planet warms the availability of productive land reduces due to flooding because of rising sea levels and more severe rainfall.  In other parts of the world a reduction in rainfall is resulting in desertification.   Converting agricultural land for the production of biofuels adds to the pressure.

Globally the demand for meat is increasing but meat and dairy farming are a relatively extravagant use of land and water.  Firstly land must be set aside to grow food for the food which will eventually feed us.  Secondly, animals are inefficient at converting their food into the protein that they provide for us. 

Overfishing has seriously reduced global fish stocks, though steps to regulate this have recently stabilized stocks in some, though not all, areas.