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Brochure, flyer, fact-sheetLife cycle assessment for sustainable food systems: integrating nutritional and environmental assessment
Zoom webinar – concept note
2021Also available in:
No results found.Agri-food systems are major contributors to environmental degradation. At the same time obesity and diet related diseases is on the rise due to over consumption of ultra-processed food which is high in saturated fat, salt and sugar. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) method provide insights into environmental impact of foods, meals, and diets from production to consumption. However, to date there is no agreed approach for integrating the assessment of nutritional value into the LCA methodology. Instead, a diverse range of approaches has emerged that provide different perspectives on nutritional value in the context of LCA of food systems. It can therefore be difficult to identify where trade-offs exist between different life cycle-based environmental impacts (e.g. greenhouse gas emissions and water use), and the contribution of different foods to human nutrition. To address this challenge, FAO embarked on an action-research project in May 2021. The project brought together an international team of thirty LCA and nutrition researchers who developed a state-of-the-art review to improve the environmental and nutritional Life Cycle Assessment (nLCA) methodology. The group identified the key LCA methodology limitations that are impeding the ability of food system actors to capture and compare the environmental and nutritional impacts of food items. They developed best practice recommendations for an integrated nLCA to measure and compare these impacts, and defined future research needs. -
Book (stand-alone)Integration of environment and nutrition in life cycle assessment of food items: opportunities and challenges 2021
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No results found.This report is the outcome of a consensus-building project to agree on best practices for environmental and nutritional Life Cycle Assessment (nLCA) methodology, and identify future research needs. The project involved 30 nutritional and environmental LCA researchers from 18 countries. It focused on the assessment of food items (as opposed to meals or diets). Best practice recommendations were developed to address the intended purpose of an LCA study and related modeling approach, choice of an appropriate functional unit, assessment of nutritional value, and reporting nLCA results. An nLCA study should report the quantities of as many essential nutrients as possible and aim to provide information on the nutritional quality and/or health impacts in addition to nutrient quantities. Outstanding issues requiring further research attention include: defining a minimum number of nutrients to be considered in an nLCA study; treatment of nutrients to limit; use of nutrient indexes; further development of Impact Assessment methods; representation of nutritional changes that may occur during subsequent distribution and food preparation in cradle-to-gate nLCA studies; and communication of data uncertainty and variability. More data are required for different regions (particularly developing countries); for the processing, distribution, retail, and consumption life cycle stages; and for food loss and waste. Finally, there is a need to extend nLCA methodology for the assessment of meals and diets, to consider further how to account for the multi-functionality of food in a sustainability framework, and to set nLCA studies within the context of environmental limits. These results provide a robust basis for improving nLCA methodology and applying it to identify solutions that minimize the trade-offs between nourishing populations and safeguarding the environment. -
Book (series)Life cycle assessment of southern pink shrimp products from Senegal. An environmental comparison between artisanal fisheries in the Casamance region and a trawl fishery based in Dakar. 2009
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No results found.Life cycle assessment (LCA) of two Senegalese seafood products exported to Europe has been undertaken based on the functional unit of one kilogram of product (frozen whole shrimps, independent of size) plus the accompanying packaging at the point of import to Europe, i.e. transported by boat to Vigo, Spain. The products are exchangeable on the European market, but the way they reach this market from the fishery over processing is very different. One product is produced through on-board p rocessing on demersal trawlers based in Dakar fishing at sea in FAO fishing zone 34 (eastern central Atlantic), then landed and stored before being exported to Europe. The other product originates in artisanal fisheries in the Casamance River in southern Senegal. Fishing takes place to similar extents by the two fishing methods: Mujas, a fixed trawl set in the deepest part of the river from a canoe, and Félé-félé, a type of driftnet managed by three men in a canoe. The shrimps are land ed and transported to a processing plant in Ziguinchor where they are washed, packed and frozen before land transportation to Dakar, storage and finally shipment to Europe. The three fisheries included (trawl, Mujas and Félé-félé) were shown to have highly different catch compositions. Each fishing method has advantages and drawbacks from a biological point of view, i.e. proportion of discard, landed bycatch and small shrimps in the catch. LCA results showed major differences between the two final products, with regard to resource use and environmental impact, depending on their origin. For the product originating in trawling, fishing was the most important activity in all categories of environmental impact. For the product originating in the artisanal fishery, fishing was the most important activity from a biological point of view. In contrast, processing and storage dominated the two categories: global warming and ozone depletion potential. The main areas to improve regarding these categories in the production chain of the trawled product are the use of fuel and refrigerants on board, while the main areas for improvement in the chain of the artisanal product are the use of energy and refrigerants in the processing plant and the energy source used by the plant. Both on board the trawlers and in the mainland processing of artisanal shrimps, considerable amounts of refrigerants with a high global warming and ozone depletion potential are used to fre eze the shrimp products. In both chains, transportation was found to be of minor importance. Increased traceability and labelling is also desirable to enable active consumer choices between products.
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