How does the food sector of agriculture affect greenhouse gases?

The food sector is a big contributor to greenhouse gases. Globally, a third of emissions come from the systems we use to produce, package and distribute food.

Think about all of the energy needed to power the machinery on farms, in factories, to transport food and to store it. This energy is almost all from fossil fuels so that is a big problem and an immediate thing to address, we could reduce emissions hugely if we switched to renewable energy.

As much as 10% of the food produced is wasted and food waste is another cause of emissions. The food sector is therefore a big part of greenhouse gas emissions and one that we can work towards improving, through reducing energy use, changing to renewables, and changing diets to reduce foods that take a lot of energy and inputs to produce, like meat.

We can also work to improve efficiency and energy use in our transport systems and reduce waste. The food sector is one of the most exciting areas to address climate change because there are lots of things that can be done and that can have positive benefits to, like reducing hunger or making food healthier. Things like supporting more locally produced and distributed food, not buying imported foods, supporting less packaging and less intensively produced food and reducing food waste.

Supermarkets are big players in this and are starting to think about how to be more sustainable and reduce waste. These are exciting developments and consumer demand has been a big part of this. So keep the pressure on! Thinking about what you eat and how it was produced and supporting the food producers who are doing their best to reduce emissions and producing locally is the best way to combat climate change.