30
votes
Accepted
Why does cheese have such a high carbon footprint?
TL;DR
The chart is misleading since it compares carbon imprint by mass instead of a measure of how much a human needs to survive.
Argument
The chart you link contains false comparisons. They are ...
- 1,067
17
votes
Why does cheese have such a high carbon footprint?
1kg of cheese takes around 10kg of milk to produce (more for some cheeses - e.g. parmesan is around 1:16; less for softer cheeses). So the carbon footprint of cheese is going to be at least that ...
- 1,042
11
votes
Accepted
Is plastic food packaging 100% reusable?
There is a difference between reuse and recycling. Reuse is using a container again without major modifications. Recycling is transforming a container into its core elements and using that to make an ...
- 14.5k
11
votes
Accepted
What to do with expired food?
To add to Chris' answer, I'd say eat them after doing the usual look-, smell- and taste-checks. Above all, make sure the can hasn't been deeply dented, is rusty or is bulging; in those cases, don't ...
- 3,272
10
votes
What to do with expired food?
Eat them.
Then look into what the different types of expiry date mean. Tins, dried pasta and many other foods have a best before date based on guesswork about quality. Most foods sold chilled and ...
- 2,116
7
votes
Accepted
Rye cultivation and rye flour
From the Encyclopedia of Country Living by Carla Emery, which I cited here before and can warmly recommend to anyone:
This makes about 5.5 sqm per kg of rye (grain or flour, doesn't really make a ...
- 5,973
7
votes
Accepted
Which is more sustainable: Almond, Soy, Coconut, Cashew or Other Milk?
I would argue that by using non-dairy you are already putting yourself into the top 20% of low impact because any plant based alternative to dairy is significantly better than dairy itself.
As you ...
- 496
7
votes
What's the best use for pig fat (lard)?
You seem to be well aware of the "cooking applications" of lard, but just in case you haven't heard of it, I'm particularly fond of Schmalz a German spread made from lard, together with small amounts ...
- 5,973
7
votes
Accepted
Do the veggies you eat today have the same amount of vitamins and minerals as they used to twenty years ago?
Several news outlets and popular science publications have reported on this subject in the last few years.
Often, the focus is not specifically on vitamins, but on nutrients in general (i.e. "...
- 3,272
7
votes
Is a fish based diet most sustainable?
Greenhouse gases aren't the only consideration.
A problem is the sustainability of fishing. Are the fished species in danger of extinction? Do the fish or fishing have extinction-causing effects on ...
- 4,871
6
votes
What's the best use for pig fat (lard)?
You can use it to replace oil when cooking things that would benefit from the pork flavour like soups.
You can use it in any situation that requires deep frying. Chips taste especially nice when ...
6
votes
Accepted
Would a tax on non-organic meat have environmental benefits?
Would levying taxes on non-organic meat be an effective means to reduce consumption and thus reduce the environmental harm?
Yes. But.
It would add complexity compared to just taxing all meat, and ...
- 3,875
6
votes
Accepted
How do organic nuts differ from non-organic nuts?
Pesticide use
Conventional farming uses both pesticides and fertilizers. Organic farming may only use a small list of pesticides or fertilizers, which usually excludes most if not all conventional ...
- 5,973
6
votes
What is an environmentally-conscious replacement for white yogurt?
Diversify
In a paper unearthed recently by our friend LShaver question, a key point is that the worst identified menace today is Biodiversity loss, beyond Nitrogen cycle disruption, and way beyond ...
- 1,407
5
votes
Accepted
What kind of nuts are eco-friendly?
TLDR: Regarding water consumption and plain land use, Brazil nuts are the winners, and by far -- at least from the numbers in this old report. However, eating too many Brazil nuts can lead to selenium ...
- 186
5
votes
Alternative to paper towels for draining fried food?
I have not found much of an alternative to paper towels, but you could at least try the following:
Drain food that has been deep fried on a wire rack. Only after this use paper towel to soak up ...
- 111
5
votes
Accepted
How environmentally friendly is the production process of vitamin B12 supplements?
Wikipedia says 4 companies produce 35 tons a year. It is produced something similar to the way that yeast is produced since you need microorganisms to create the B12. This is true for animals and us. ...
- 216
5
votes
How to preserve meat during warm months without electricity?
I grew up very poor, out in the country, the youngest of seven, and my mom was a widow.
She canned everything over an open fire outside, in a galvanized tub, the same one we used to take our baths in....
5
votes
Using other peoples resources for basic living
It's reasonable to say that a lifestyle can still be sustainable even if not everybody could live that way. It's like filling a niche in an ecosystem. Obviously we can't all eat discarded/excess meals,...
- 8,755
5
votes
What type of guinea pigs will keep a food forest well cleaned?
We kept 70 - 80 wild guinea pigs in the back of our lot for perhaps four months. They free-ranged the pasture during the daytime and slept in sturdy cages at night. Every few weeks we would move the ...
- 386
5
votes
Most eco-friendly staple food
First approximation:
What is the cheapest starch? Use dry weight, or bucks per calorie.
This tends to maximize for the calories per acre of land used, and the costs to bring it to market.
It does ...
- 7,207
5
votes
Carbon footprint of soy milk versus cow's milk
Tesco (a large UK supermarket chain) have carbon footprinted a large number of their products - https://www.tescoplc.com/assets/files/cms/Tesco_Product_Carbon_Footprints_Summary(1).pdf. For fresh ...
- 1,042
4
votes
Accepted
Energy requirements for sustainable food production system
Given the uncertainties in many of your numbers, your answer is consistent with Nate Storey's.
Your assumption of 303 lm/W for LEDs doesn't look plausible to me - that's very different to the sort of ...
- 14.7k
4
votes
Accepted
What's the best use for pig fat (lard)?
More uses...
Lard or the fat can be made into Lardo - or cured pork fat (Italian name). This is done without rendering it. It's remarkably tasty. There are many versions of this around the world.
...
- 176
4
votes
Which is more sustainable: Almond, Soy, Coconut, Cashew or Other Milk?
I cannot answer the questions completely but I have experience in Coconut cultivation and processing. In our part of the world (Southern part of India), Coconut farming is very sustainable since most ...
- 181
4
votes
Why does cheese have such a high carbon footprint?
Also worth noting that these figures are based on a "high productivity" Wisconsin farm. I've got nothing against Wisconsin, the problem is the huge reliance on results from a single farm.
A large ...
- 1,001
4
votes
Accepted
What feed is typically used in cricket farming?
I received the following answer after emailing a company that raises crickets.
We use a agricultural feed that includes feed beans, buckwheat, and feed corn non of which are edible by humans. We ...
- 2,849
4
votes
Is "buying local" sustainable, with reference to food made from animals?
A good question, but one for which the answer will differ for different locations around the world. Here in New Zealand, for example, very little feed is brought in from outside of the farm upon which ...
- 348
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