Biodiversity impact assessment of different meal options based on life cycle assessment (LCA)

Abstract

Biodiversity loss due to food production activities is a major global challenge that needs to be addressed immediately. Pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, water consumption, deforestation and other impact pathways resulted due to the agricultural activities and the food supply chain contributes to major biodiversity losses. Dietary practices of the individuals and consumption patterns can influence the food production system. More often the consumers are unaware of the impacts caused due to their food consumption. The aim of this thesis was to assess the biodiversity impacts and environmental impacts resulting from the life cycle of six different meals from different category of meals, i.e., meat based, vegetarian, vegan and plant-based meat alternative meal options. The impacts were assessed from cradle to plate, and the results are used to support the decision making for the food service provider and consumers. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) was used to assess biodiversity impacts using LC-IMPACT method, and environmental impacts of the meals were assessed using ReCiPe 2016 method. Results indicated that on an average, meal containing animal-based products had higher biodiversity impacts and environmental impacts when compared to the meals comprising of plant-based ingredients. Significant reductions in the overall impacts were achieved by replacing animal-based ingredients (e.g., beef) with plant-based ingredients (e.g., tofu). The outcome of the study proposes that gradually transitioning from animal-based meals from plant-based diets can reduce the biodiversity impacts from food production system, and support to safeguard the biodiversity.