Menu of Extinction: Quantifying Biodiversity Footprint of Different Diets Using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)

Global biodiversity is diminishing at an alarming rate and requires immediate action. Food production activities contribute significantly towards the loss of biodiversity, through multiple pathways including climate change, land use and land use change (LULUC), water stress, eutrophication and others. Understanding the dietary practices and consumption patterns of individuals becomes crucial for identifying the key areas in food systems that are driving the biodiversity loss. Providing evidence-based information to stakeholders about the biodiversity impacts of their dietary food choices could help them make conscious decisions. Currently such studies remain limited.

This study quantifies and compares the biodiversity impacts of Finnish diet for six different meal types: conventional meat based (beef, chicken and pork), vegetarian, vegan, and plant-based meat alternative (Tofu). Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) framework was adapted to assess the biodiversity impacts of the meals using LC-IMPACT method. The system boundary employed is ‘farm to fork’. Life cycle inventory data was compiled for agricultural production, processing, transportation and cooking. Impacts across the supply chain were assessed for climate change, land stress and water stress categories in terms of Potentially Disappeared Fraction of species globally (PDF·yr).

Meals containing animal-based products exhibited higher biodiversity impacts compared to meals containing plant-based products, with beef containing meal showing the highest per portion impact. Replacing beef with tofu achieved 89% reduction in overall meal biodiversity footprint. Climate change and LULUC showed greater impacts than the other drivers, indicating their dominance in biodiversity loss. Ingredients imported to Finland demonstrated relatively higher biodiversity impacts than locally produced ingredients. The quantity of the ingredients used per meal was also a crucial element in the overall impact.

The findings from this study highlights the importance of evaluating the biodiversity impacts for different types of diets. The outcome of this study provides evidence based information for stakeholders to minimize their biodiversity impacts via food systems. We recommend to conduct further research, including nutritional aspects of food products, to provide holistic information for decision making.