How to eat your way to a greener planet

livemint.com:

As farmers and livestock growers face pressure to reduce their carbon footprint to cut costs and satisfy consumer demand, many are looking for foods that don’t require as much energy to produce. That means future farms might look a bit different: More truffle plantations, bean fields and insect houses. Fewer cornfields, pigpens and cow pastures.

Growing food creates about one-third of the total greenhouse-gas emissions produced by society each year, emissions that come from the use of fertilizers on farmers’ fields to grow crops, methane that cows burp into the atmosphere and the diesel-powered trucks that haul livestock and produce to market. Researchers estimate the carbon footprint of foods using a measurement that compares the amount of greenhouse gases emitted in the production of each food. Using this yardstick, cows come out on top by a wide margin, according to a 2018 study by scientists at the University of Michigan and Tulane University, with nearly 33 kilograms of CO2-equivalent per kilogram of beef.

That compares with 3.75 kilograms of CO2-equivalent for eggs, the study reported. Here are a few protein-rich foods that don’t break the bank when it comes to carbon emissions. Scrambled eggs are a great source of protein, and fried chicken is a staple of summer picnics.