Source record
National food LCA research index (legacy)
Various national LCA studies (2024). Compiled by The Balance of Health.
Key findings
- Country footprints for the same food can differ by two- to three-fold, mostly because of land-use change, feed sources and yields.
Record
- Source type
- Other
- Study type
- Life Cycle Assessment
- Topics
- Climate & emissions, Land use, Water
- Geography
- Europe, United States, Brazil, India
- Funding & conflicts
- Not recorded.
- Source quality
- Limited evidenceThis index is not a source for numerical factors. Consult the individual study records.
Limitations
- Legacy index retained for URL stability. Active factors cite individual studies: Weiss & Leip 2012, Rotz 2019, Cederberg 2011 and Thoma 2013.
Claims this source supports
EnvironmentStrong evidence
Per gram of protein, beef from dedicated beef herds produces roughly 25 times the greenhouse gas emissions of tofu and 60 times those of pulses; the ratio to peas is over 100.
Beef is in a different league from plant proteins on emissions. Chicken and eggs sit in between.