Does the way we cook

make a difference for the

climate change impact?
 Engaging materials – some examples

Climate Food Flashcards

Take A Bite Out Of Climate Change https://www.takeabitecc.org

 Engaging materials – some examples

Take A Bite Out Of Climate Change https://www.takeabitecc.org

 Greenhouse gas emissions of the food system
33.5%

Source: Crippa et al. (2021) and Tubiello et al. 2021.

Source: For Free Choice Institute (2020).

 Planetary
boundaries

Source: Stockholm Resilience Centre (2015).

 Misperception of environmental impacts
Personal contribution to reduce GHGe

Belief (% of respondents) Facts (kg CO2 e reduction p.a. per capita)

Source: Jungbluth (2019). ESU-services fair consulting in sustainability.

 Environmental impacts from the food system
Freshwater withdrawals Biodiversity loss • Acidification
• Ozone depletion
86 • Human toxicity
70%
% • Particulate matter
• Soil quality, soil
Source: IUCN Red List (2019).
carbon content
• etc.
Source: FAO. (2011).

Eutrophication Land use

50%

78%

Source: Poore, J., & Nemecek, T. (2018). Source: FAO. (2011).

Life cycle impact assessment
T T T

T T T T T

Ripening
Raw milk Storage/post-
production harvest
 Energy consumption for cooking in Europe
● Cooking accounts for 6.1% of total energy used at households
● In Portugal cooking contributes 36%

Energy consumption for space heating in EU households Energy consumption for cooking in EU households

Electricity Derived Heat Electricity Derived Heat

Gas Solid fuels Gas Solid fuels
Oil & petroleum products Renewables and Wastes Oil & petroleum products Renewables and Wastes
Source: Eurostat 2019
 Study on cooking impacts

Background
● Scope of majority of environmental assessment studies:
o Farm production to retailer
○ Studies including cooking do not focus on cooking in detail

Aims and objectives

● Estimate GHGe from home cooking in the UK
● Identify best cooking method
● Identify bad practices (e.g. over-cooking)
● Raising awareness (e.g. not leaving the oven on for an hour to preheat)
● Recommendations for improvements
 Methodology
● Survey on consumer’s cooking behaviour at home

o 30 different foods
o Cooking time (median values)
○ Cooking method (10 appliances, 11 cooking methods)
○ Participants n = 765, after cleaning 684≤n≤759
○ Cut-off criterium: n>10 per method
○ Sigma clipping & data cleaning

Source: survey concept and conduct by Dr Christian Reynolds, City University of London
Assumptions & limitations

● Estimating cooking time based on portion size rather than home

cooking sizes/ household size
● Detail of food is missing: type of food does not specify processing grade
(fresh versus pre-processed, canned and similar
● Food items might be used in recipes/dishes and not used on its own:
○ Difficult to specify cooking time for one food item instead of a dish
● Slow cooking: cooking times seem inappropriate
● Difficult to judge outliers
● Average energy consumption used
Cooking methods & appliances
 0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Pasta (dry)
Rice (dry)
Potatoes
Carrots
Tomatoes

Pre-consumption
Frozen peas
Cabbage
Cauliflower
Mushrooms

Cooking
Onions
Apples
Citrus fruits
Strawberries
Milk
Cheese
Eggs
Bacon
Beef
Lamb
Pork
Chicken
White fish
Oily fish (salmon)
Beans or…
Baked beans
Tofu
Quorn
Contribution of cooking to the total food emissions

0.0
10.0
20.0
30.0
40.0
60.0
70.0

50.0
 Climate change impact in kg CO2 e/kg

Potatoes 7.0
30 min
6.0
25 min
5.0
20 min
Cooking [kgCO2e/kg] 4.0
3.0 15 min
Pre-consumption [kgCO2e/kg] 2.0 10 min
1.0 5 min
Cooking time [minutes]
0.0 0 min
Toast,
Roast or
Boil on the Deep fry Deep fry Shallow fry Steamer Steamer broil, or
bake in the Microwave
stove (hob) (electric) on stove (hob) (electric) grill in the
oven
oven
Total impact [kgCO2e/kg] 1.87 3.28 1.33 2.29 2.21 1.86 2.17 1.60 3.13
Cooking [kgCO2e/kg] 0.86 2.27 0.33 1.29 1.20 0.86 1.17 0.59 2.12
Pre-consumption [kgCO2e/kg] 1.01 1.01 1.01 1.01 1.01 1.01 1.01 1.01 1.01
Cooking time [minutes] 21 min 30 min 15 min 24 min 24 min 16 min 29 min 29 min 28 min
Climate change impact in kg CO2 e/kg

Chicken 40.00
35.00 100 min
30.00
50 min
25.00
20.00
0 min
Cooking [kgCO2e/kg] 15.00
10.00 -50 min
Pre-consumption [kgCO2e/kg]
5.00
Cooking time [minutes] 0.00 -100 m
Toast,
Roast or Shallow Boil on
Deep fry Deep fry Steamer Steamer broil, or Electric Slow
bake in fry on the
(hob) (electric) (hob) (electric) grill in grill cooker
the oven stove stove
the oven
Total [kgCO2e/kg] 17.35 13.01 14.91 13.99 13.69 14.54 13.01 15.89 12.76 12.05
Cooking [kgCO2e/kg] 5.73 1.40 3.30 2.38 2.07 2.93 1.39 4.27 1.14 0.43
Pre-consumption [kgCO2e/kg] 11.62 11.62 11.62 11.62 11.62 11.62 11.62 11.62 11.62 11.62
Cooking time [minutes] 55 min 20 min 45 min 34 min 34 min 40 min 40 min 41 min 20 min 52 min
 Greenhouse gas emissions per weight and protein content

70
Kg CO2 e per kg and per 100g protein

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
Beef Pork White fish Chicken Eggs Quorn Beans or
chickpeas
(canned)
Total GHGe [kgCO2e/kgcooked] Total GHGe [kgCO2e/100 g_protein]
Source: Frankowska et al (2020).
 Dietary recommendations versus actual intake
Legumes (beans & peas)
Meats, poultry, eggs
50
Ounce-Equivalents

50
40
40
30 30
20 20
10 10
0 0
1 to 3 4 to 8 9 to 14 to 19 t0 31 to 51 to 71+
13 18 30 50 70
Males (years)

Average weekly intake

Vegetables
4 4
Ounce-Equivalents

3 3
2 2
1 1
0 0
1 to 3 4 to 8 9 to 14 to 19 t0 31 to 51 to 71+
13 18 30 50 70

Source: USDA (2015). Average intake ranges

Conclusions

● GHGe vary by cooking method and appliance

● Cooking contributes between 6% - 61% to the total impacts
● Most common cooking methods: boiling, shallow frying, roasting/baking
● Other cooking methods greatly under-used (slow & pressure cooking)
● Generally, oven use cause the greatest climate change impact
● Cautious use of ovens/combining cooking methods
○ Control pre-heating time
○ Consider pre-cooking (boiling/microwaving/frying)
● Cooking impacts can be reduced:
○ By reducing cooking time (e.g. cooking under pressure)
○ By using low energy appliances (e.g. microwaves, electr. pressure cooker)
 Thank you

Does the way we cook make a

difference
for the climate change impact?
Available:
https://rdcu.be/cb3k5