Published March 1, 2021 | Version v1
Journal article Open

Evaluating the environmental and social impacts of selected food supply chains of the VALUMICS project

Creators

  • 1. University College Dublin
  • 2. SINTEF Ocean
  • 3. University of Iceland

Description

The VALUMICS  H2020 funded project is using a holistic systematic approach to enhance the resilience, integrity and sustainability of food value chains. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a widely used method to identify the environmental and social hotspots in food supply chains. Such information can be used to provide strategic and operational advice for managemental strategies and agri-food policies.
Environmental LCA and social LCA are adopted as key tools for sustainability
evaluation in the overall project work. The LCA models are highly integrated and trans-disciplinary drawing on the expertise from different backgrounds.
LCA models were developed for the three case studies of the VALUMICS  project - butter (representing dairy sector), salmon fillet (representing
aquaculture sector) and beef steak (representing animal production sector).

Notes

This LCA and Social-LCA report adopted a holistic approach to evaluate the environmental and social impacts of the selected case studies. Across all three, novel feed ingredients, sustainable aviation fuel and reduction of wasted food can effectively reduce the GHG emission (and other impacts), and the combined approach with three options could decrease GHG emission by 15% to 82% depending on raw material, product type, market and transport. These externalities are not currently priced in the market for these materials and products and have little impact on consumer choice compared to type of product (e.g., meat vs. vegetable).

Files

EAS46-1-_March 21_VALUMICS article.pdf

Files (963.7 kB)

Name Size Download all
md5:98f5ff1c5e15c8d113916f3a16714413
963.7 kB Preview Download

Additional details

Funding

VALUMICS – Understanding food value chains and network dynamics 727243
European Commission