An infographic showing the impacts of our food

Farming has a huge impact on our planet. It uses vast areas of land and accounts for 70% of freshwater use. Food production contributes more than a quarter of our total greenhouse gas emissions. This infographic compares multiple food groups across their greenhouse gas emissions, land use and water use.

As they digest their food, cows emit the greenhouse gas methane through their burps and farts. Each kilogramme of beef results in the production of 99.5 kilogrammes of greenhouse gases.

Cattle need large areas to graze and land is also used to grow crops such as soya to feed them. Every kilogramme of beef produced uses 326.2 square metres of land.

Cheese uses a lot of water in its production – for animals to drink, to cool milk and to clean machinery. It adds up to 180,851 litres of water per kilogramme of cheese, although it varies hugely around the world.

Additional information shown in the infographic:

Greenhouse gas emissions per kilogramme of food (provided as kg of carbon dioxide equivalent):
- Beef: 99.5
- Dark chocolate: 46.7 – cocoa production often involves cutting down tropical forest, which helps explain its high carbon emissions compared to other foods
- Coffee: 28.5
- Cheese: 23.9
- Chicken: 9.8
- Rice: 4.5 – rice compares well to other foods by weight, but as we grow huge quantities and paddy fields produce the greenhouse gas methane, rice is responsible for 10% of all farming emissions
- Tofu: 3.2
- Tomatoes: 2.1
- Bananas: 0.9
- Potatoes: 0.5

Land use (in square metres) per kilogramme of food:
- Beef: 326.2
- Cheese: 87.8
- Dark chocolate: 69
- Coffee: 21.6
- Chicken 12.2
- Tofu 3.5
- Rice 2.8
- Bananas 1.9
- Potatoes: 0.9
- Tomatoes: 0.8

Water use (in litres) per kilogramme of food, adjusted for water scarcity in places where food is produced:
- Cheese: 180,851
- Rice: 49,576
- Beef: 34,733
- Chicken: 14,178
- Tomatoes: 5,336
- Tofu: 5,113
- Dark chocolate: 2,879
- Potatoes: 2,754
- Bananas: 662

Data source: Poore, J and Nemecek, T (2018), Reducing food’s impacts through producers and consumers, Science.