The climate effects of food
Different foods affect the climate to varying degrees – and the variations are large.
Some foods affect the climate less than others. The most climate smart diet is vegetarian. The effect will be big if you decrease your meat-portions, or swap the meat to vegetarian alternatives.
Beef is worse than pork
The climate effects from meat vary considerably depending on what kind of animal the meat is from. For instance, one kilo of beef with no bones causes approximately nine times more emissions than one kilo of chicken and fowl.
Cows, sheep and goats are ruminants, which means that they can eat things that humans can´t. Ruminants have stomachs consisting of three or four parts and can, with the help of bacteria, break down high fiber roughage, such as grass, hay, and ensilage, into nutrition that the animals can assimilate.
In this process methane is produced, which is a forceful greenhouse gas that affects the climate. When the animals breathe or burp some of the gas is released. The amount and kind of fodder the animals eat affect the amount of methane emissions. Dairy products too, such as cheese and butter, contribute to relatively high levels of greenhouse gases.
The process is not the same for animals that aren´t ruminants, such as pigs for example. Their digestion mostly generates carbon dioxide. Because methane is a stronger greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, meat from ruminants is worse for the environment.
Climate effects from different foods
Climate effects from protein sources
| Protein source | Kilo greenhouse gases per product kilo |
| Leguminous plant (dry) | 0,7 |
| Nuts | 1,5 |
| Eggs | 2 |
| Meat substitutes (soy and other) | 3 |
| Fish | 3 |
| Quorn | 4 |
| Pork (bone free) | 6 |
| Charcuterie (Falu-sausage 40% meat content) | 7 |
| Ground meat (50/50 beef/pork) | 16 |
| Lamb (bone free) | 21 |
| Beef (bone free?) | 26 |
Climate effects from dairy products
| Protein source | Kilo of greenhouse gases per product kilo |
| Milk, buttermilk (filmjölk), yoghurt | 1 |
| Dairy other (crème fraiche, Keso and more) | 2 |
| Cheese | 8 |
| Butter | 8 |
Climate effects from carbohydrates
| Protein source | Kilo of greenhouse gases per product kilo |
| Potatoes | 0,1 |
| Flower, grits | 0,6 |
| Pasta | 0,8 |
| Bread | 0,8 |
| Rice | 2 |
About the numbers
The numbers given above are rough estimates for each food category. There are often large variations within each group, but the meridian values are, in general, representative numbers for most products within that group. The greenhouse gas emissions represents all emissions from the production process such as production, processing, packaging and transportation to Sweden.
Transportation from store to home, and cooking of the foods is not included. The numbers don´t include other areas such as biodiversity, use of chemical pesticides, and animal welfare.
Reference: The numbers come from Mat-klimat-listan (translated as the food and climate-list) recommended by the National Food Administration: Mat-klimat-listan, version 1.1. Elin Röös, SLU, the Swedish University of Agricultural Services, November 2014.