Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Reduction of the carbon footprint of college freshman diets after a food-based environmental science course

  • Published:
Climatic Change Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The goal of this study was to evaluate the impact of a two-quarter freshman course series entitled “Food: A Lens for Environment and Sustainability” (Food cluster) on the carbon footprint of food choices by college freshmen attending a large public university in California. Students enrolled in the course completed a baseline questionnaire about their diets in early fall quarter and then again at follow-up, about 6 months later at the end of the winter quarter. The control group consisted of freshmen enrolled in a different course series entitled “Evolution of the Cosmos and Life” (Cosmos cluster). The instruction in the Food cluster included lecture material on general environmental science and life cycle analyses of food, an analysis of a reading comparing the environmental footprint of various types of meats, and classroom exercises to calculate the environmental footprint of typical foods. The Cosmos cluster instruction included climate change, but no information about food. While the two groups were statistically indistinguishable at baseline, throughout the period of the study, Food cluster students decreased (a) their overall dietary carbon footprint for a 2000-kcal normalized diet by 7% (p = 0.062), (b) the beef component of their dietary carbon footprint by 19% (p = 0.024), and (c) their reported ruminant consumption by 28% (p < 0.001). At follow-up, the overall dietary footprints for Food cluster students were 4153 and 5726 g CO2-eq/day for female and male students, respectively, compared to 4943 and 6958 g CO2-eq/day for female and male Cosmos students. In the Food cluster, both genders decreased their reported ruminant meat consumption by about a serving per week, while reported ruminant meat consumption increased for males in the control group. Modest, voluntary dietary changes such as those observed in this study could play an important role in mitigating climate change. Extrapolated across the entire US population, the difference in dietary carbon footprint observed between the Food cluster and control group would amount to 33% of the reduction required for the 2013 President’s Climate Action Plan (2013).

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Bajzelj B, Richards KS, Allwood JM, Smith P, Dennis JS, Curmi E, Gilligan CA (2014) Importance of food-demand management for climate mitigation. Nat Clim Chang 4:924–929. https://doi.org/10.1038/NCLIMATE2353

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bentley J (2017) U.S. Trends in Food Availability and a Dietary Assessment of Loss-Adjusted Food Availability, 1970-2014, EIB -16 6. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service https://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/pub-details/?pubid=82219

  • Berners-Lee M, Hoolohan C, Cammack H, Hewitt CN (2012) The relative greenhouse gas impacts of realistic dietary choices. Energy Policy 43:184–190. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2011.12.054

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bryngelsson D, Wirsenius S, Hedenus F, Sonesson U (2016) How can the EU climate targets be met? A combined analysis of technological and demand-side changes in food and agriculture. Food Policy 59:152–164. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2015.12.012

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Camilleri AR, Larrick RP, Hossain S, Patino-Echeverri D (2019) Consumers underestimate the emissions associated with food but are aided by labels. Nat Clim Chang 9 (1):53–58

  • Clonan A, Wilson P, Swift JA, Leibovici DG, Holdsworth M (2015) Red and processed meat consumption and purchasing behaviours and attitudes: impacts for human health, animal welfare and environmental sustainability. Public Health Nutr 18(13):2446–2456

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Daniel CR, Cross AJ, Koebnick C, Sinha R (2011) Trends in meat consumption in the USA. Public Health Nutr 14(4):575–583

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Deliens T, Van Crombruggen R, Verbruggen S, De Bourdeaudhuij I, Deforche B, Clarys P (2016) Dietary interventions among university students: A systematic review. Appetite 105:14–26

  • EPA (US Environmental Protection Agency) (2018) Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990–2016. Washington, D.C.: EPA. Available at: https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/inventory-usgreenhouse-gas-emissions-and-sinks-1990-2016. Accessed 11 May 2017

  • Eshel G, Shepon A, Makov T, Milo R (2014) Land, irrigation water, greenhouse gas, and reactive nitrogen burdens of meat, eggs, and dairy production in the United States. Proc Natl Acad Sci 111(33):11996–12001. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1402183111

  • Eshel G, Shepon A, Noor E, Milo R (2016) Environmentally optimal, nutritionally aware beef replacement plant-based diets. Environ Sci Technol 50(15):8164–8168. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.6b01006

  • Gerber PJ, Steinfeld H, Henderson B, Mottet A, Opio C, Dijkman J, Falcucci A, Temio G (2013) Tackling climate change through livestock—a global assessment of emissions and mitigation opportunities. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Rome

    Google Scholar 

  • Godfray HCJ, Aveyard P, Garnett T, Hall JW, Key TJ, Lorimer J, Pierrehumbert RT, Scarborough P, Springmann M, Jebb SA (2018) Meat consumption, health, and the environment. Science 361(6399):eaam5324

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Green R, Milner J, Dangour AD, Spadaro J, Wilkinson P (2015) The potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the UK through healthy and realistic dietary change. Climate Change:253–265. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-015-1329-y

  • Hallström E, Gee Q, Scarborough P, Cleveland DA (2017) A healthier US diet could reduce greenhouse gas emissions from both the food and health care systems. Clim Chang 142(1-2):199–212

  • Harwatt H, Sabaté J, Eshel G, Soret S, Ripple W (2017) Substituting beans for beef as a contribution toward US climate change targets. Climate Change. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-017-1969-1

  • Hedenus F, Wirsenius S, Johansson DJA (2014) The importance of reduced meat and dairy consumption for meeting stringent climate change targets. Clim Chang 124(1–2):79–91. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-014-1104-5

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hekler EB, Gardner CD, Robinson TN (2010) Effects of a college course about food and society on students' eating behaviors. Am J Prev Med 38(5):543 547

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heller MC, Keoleian GA (2015) Greenhouse gas emission estimates of U.S. dietary choices and food loss. J Ind Ecol 19(3):391–401. https://doi.org/10.1111/jiec.12174

  • Joyce A, Hallett J, Hannelly T, Carey G (2014) The impact of nutritional choices on global warming and policy implications: examining the link between dietary choices and greenhouse gas emissions. Energy Emission Control Technol 2:33–43

  • Kelly NR, Mazzeo SE, Bean MK (2013) Systematic review of dietary interventions with college students: directions for future research and practice. J Nutr Educ Behav 45(4):304–313

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meier T, Christen O (2012) Gender as a factor in an environmental assessment of the consumption of animal and plant-based foods in Germany. Int J Life Cycle Assess 17:550–564. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-012-0387-x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meier T, Christen O (2013) Environmental impacts of dietary recommendations and dietary styles: Germany as an example. Environ Sci Technol 47(2):877–888. https://doi.org/10.1021/es302152v

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Monroe JT, Lofgren IE, Sartini BL, Greene GW (2015) The green eating project: web-based intervention to promote environmentally conscious eating behaviours in US university students. Public Health Nutr 18(13):2368–2378

  • National Center for Education Statistics (2018) https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=372[HM1]

  • Neff RA, Edwards D, Palmer A, Ramsing R, Righter A, Wolfson J (2018) Reducing meat consumption in the USA: a nationally representative survey of attitudes and behaviours. Public Health Nutr:1–10

  • Nelson MC, Story M, Larson NI, Neumark- Sztainer D, Lytle LA (2008) Emerging adulthood and college- aged youth: an overlooked age for weight- related behavior change. Obesity 16(10):2205–2211

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nijdam D, Rood T, Westhoek H (2012) The price of protein: review of land use and carbon footprints from life cycle assessments of animal food products and their substitutes. Food Policy 37:760–770

  • Ogino A, Sommart K, Subepang S, Mitsumori M, Hayashi K, Yamashita T, Tanaka Y (2016) Environmental impacts of extensive and intensive beef production systems in Thailand evaluated by life cycle assessment. J Clean Prod 112:22–31

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Orji R, Vassileva J, Mandryk R (2012) Towards an effective health interventions design: An extension of the health belief model. Online J Public Health Inform 4(3):e9

  • Pasiakos SM, Agarwal S, Lieberman HR, Fulgoni VL (2015) Sources and amounts of animal, dairy, and plant protein intake of US adults in 2007–2010. Nutrients. 7:7058–7069. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu7085322

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Risku-Norja H, Kurppa S, Helenius J (2009) Dietary choices and greenhouse gas emissions—assessment of impact of vegetarian and organic options at national scale. Prog Ind Ecol 6(4):340–354

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Robinson TN (2010) Save the world, prevent obesity: piggybacking on existing social and ideological movements. Obesity 18(S1):S17–S22

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rothgerber H (2013) Real men don’t eat (vegetable) quiche: masculinity and the justification of meat consumption. Psychol Men Masculinity 14(4):363–375

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scarborough P, Appleby PN, Mizdrak A, Briggs ADM, Travis RC, Bradbury KE, Key TJ (2014) Dietary greenhouse gas emissions of meat-eaters , fish-eaters , vegetarians and vegans in the UK. Climate Change 125:179–192. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-014-1169-1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Springmann M, Godfray HCJ, Rayner M, Scarborough P (2016) Analysis and valuation of the health and climate change cobenefits of dietary change. Proc Natl Acad Sci 113(15):4146–4151

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Springmann M, Clark M, Mason-D’Croz D, Wiebe K, Bodirsky BL, Lassaletta L, de Vries W, Vermeulen SJ, Herrero M, Carlson KM, Jonell M, Troell M, DeClerck F, Gordon LJ, Zurayk R, Scarborough P, Rayner M, Loken B, Fanzo J, Godfray HCJ, Tilman D, Rockström J, Willett W (2018) Options for keeping the food system within environmental limits. Nature 562 (7728):519–525

  • Stehfest E, Bouwman L, van Vuuren DP, den Elzen MGJ, Eickhout B, Kabat P (2009) Climate benefits of changing diet. Climate Change 95:83–102. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-008-9534-6

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stok F, Renner B, Clarys P, Lien N, Lakerveld J, Deliens T (2018) Understanding eating behavior during the transition from adolescence to young adulthood: A literature review and perspective on future research directions. Nutrients 10(6):667

  • Tilman D, Clark M (2014) Global diets link environmental sustainability and human health. Nature 515:518–522. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature13959

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) (2018) Economic Research Service website. Published June 4.Available at: https://www.ers.usda.gov/amber-waves/2018/june/percapita-red-meat-and-poultry-disappearance-insights-into-its-steady-growth/. Accessed 14 Jan 2019

  • Van Dooren C, Marinussen M, Blonk H, Aiking H, Vellinga P (2014) Exploring dietary guidelines based on ecological and nutritional values: a comparison of six dietary patterns. Food Policy 44:36–46. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2013.11.002

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vartanian LR (2015) Impression management and food intake. Current directions in research. Appetite 86:74–80

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vermeulen SJ, Campbell BM, Ingram JSI (2012) Climate change and food systems. Annu Rev Environ Resour 37:195–222

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Westhoek H, Lesschen JP, Rood T, Wagner S, De Marco A, Murphy-Bokern D, Leip A, van Grinsven H, Sutton MA, Oenema O (2014) Food choices, health and environment: effects of cutting Europe’s meat and dairy intake. Glob Environ Chang 26(1):196–205. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2014.02.004

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Willett W, Rockstrom J, Loken B, Springmann M, Lang T, Vermeulen S, Garnett T, Tilman D, DeClerck F, Wood A, Jonell M, Clark M, Gordon LJ, Fanzo J, Hawkes C, Zurayk R, Rivera JA, De Vries W, Sibanda LM, Afshin A, Chaudhary A, Herrero M, Agustina R, Branca F, Lartey A, Fan S, Crona B, Fox E, Bignet V, Troell M, Lindahl T, Singh S, Cornell SE, Reddy KS, Narain S, Nishtar S, Murray CJL (2019) Food in the anthropocene: The EAT-Lancet Commission on healthy diets from sustainable food systems. The Lancet Commissions. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(18)31788-4

  • Wilson MM, Reedy J, Krebs-Smith SM (2016) American diet quality: where it is, where it is heading, and what it could be. J Acad Nutr Diet 116(2):302–310

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang FF, Liu J, Rehm CD, Wilde P, Mande JR, Mozaffarian D (2018) Trends and disparities in diet quality among US adults by supplemental nutrition assistance program participation status. JAMA Netw Open 1(2):e180237–e180237

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Keith Stolzenbach for leading the environmental science cluster for many years and for conceiving of the addition of the food lens to the course. We give heartfelt thanks to the students in the cluster courses for voluntarily participating in our lengthy questionnaire both at the start and at completion of the study period. We are also grateful to five reviewers for significantly improving the manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of California Los Angeles, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA

    Jennifer A. Jay & Emily Wesel

  2. University of California Los Angeles, Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA

    Jennifer A. Jay, Raffaella D’Auria, J. Cully Nordby, David Andy Rice & Deepak Rajagopal

  3. Department of Media, Journalism and Film, Miami University in Ohio, Oxford, OH, 45056, USA

    David Andy Rice

  4. Environmental Studies Program and Department of Geography, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, USA

    David A. Cleveland

  5. University of California Los Angeles, Integrative Biology and Physiology, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA

    Anthony Friscia

  6. Natural Resources Defense Council, 1314 Second St, Santa Monica, CA, 90401, USA

    Sophie Kissinger & Joel R. Reynolds

  7. Office of Instructional Development, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA

    Marc Levis

  8. University of California Los Angeles, Fielding School of Public Health, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA

    Hannah Malan & May Wang

  9. University of California Los Angeles, Healthy Campus Initiative, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA

    Wendelin Slusser

Authors
  1. Jennifer A. Jay
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Raffaella D’Auria
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. J. Cully Nordby
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. David Andy Rice
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. David A. Cleveland
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Anthony Friscia
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Sophie Kissinger
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Marc Levis
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Hannah Malan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  10. Deepak Rajagopal
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  11. Joel R. Reynolds
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  12. Wendelin Slusser
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  13. May Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  14. Emily Wesel
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

JJ conceptualized the project, is an instructor in the cluster, conducted the analysis, and principally drafted the article. RD, DAR, CN, and AF are instructors in the clusters and contributed to the study design, analysis, and manuscript. SK and EW assisted with data analysis. ML and JR contributed to data interpretation and implications of results. DR gave guidance on life cycle assessment calculations. WS and MW assisted with questionnaire design and interpretation. DC and HM contributed to the discussion of dietary behavior change analysis and implications for climate change. All authors participated in helpful discussions and edited the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jennifer A. Jay.

Additional information

Publisher’s note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Electronic supplementary material

ESM 1

(PDF 1.35 mb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Jay, J.A., D’Auria, R., Nordby, J.C. et al. Reduction of the carbon footprint of college freshman diets after a food-based environmental science course. Climatic Change 154, 547–564 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-019-02407-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-019-02407-8

Search

Navigation