Life cycle inventory and carbon and water FoodPrint of fruits and vegetables: application to a Swiss retailer.

ABSTRACT: Food production and consumption is known to have significant environmental impacts. In the present work, the life cycle assessment methodology is used for the environmental assessment of an assortment of 34 fruits and vegetables of a large Swiss retailer, with the aim of providing environmental decision-support to the retailer and establishing life cycle inventories (LCI) also applicable to other case studies. The LCI includes, among others, seedling production, farm machinery use, fuels for the heating of greenhouses, irrigation, fertilizers, pesticides, storage and transport to and within Switzerland. The results show that the largest reduction of environmental impacts can be achieved by consuming seasonal fruits and vegetables, followed by reduction of transport by airplane. Sourcing fr

SUBMITTER: Stoessel F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3394405 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature