Introduction
First, we are all free to choose what we want to eat and consume, but it makes a huge difference in terms of sustainability and has a huge impact on the environment. This topic includes the production, transportation, storage, disposal, and food waste of agricultural products. As consumers, we should care about the impact our food choices have on the environment, especially to promote a more sustainable food system in our society. In addition to having a more use-case-focused blog post, I will focus on a specific company. I will focus on the production of “Kraft Heinz”, which is a big player in producing food for supermarkets.
What do we mean by sustainable food?
Under sustainable food, we mean food that is produced, transported, consumed, and disposed of with a minimum impact on the environment.
What are the problems with food production in case of sustainability?
A main problem in this area is the high usage of pesticides and fertilizer, which can both have a huge impact on the soil and water supplies. Nitrogen and phosphorus can have a negative impact on soil fertility and water quality. In addition, the heavy metal contamination (lead, cadmium, nickel, and mercury) in the fertilizer can contaminate the groundwater and are not nutrients for the plants. The production of this synthetic fertilizer also has high greenhouse gas emissions, and the production of food can also lead to high greenhouse gas emissions.
What is the current plan of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the use of water and using of synthetic fertilizers?
Kraft Heinz focuses and prioritizes its goals for the company and business stakeholders with the greatest impact. The one focus area is "Healthy Living and Community Support,", which leads to improving the health and nutrition of each product. This includes less sugar and sodium, more transparency, and more plant-based products. Especially plant-based products bring a multi-solving approach by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and the use of land water and fossil fuels.
This leads to the second goal of Kraft Heinz, “Environmental Stewardship.” Plant-based products have a much lower greenhouse gas emission than, for example, beef, which has the highest greenhouse gas emission. In the production of one kg of beef, there are 30.5 kg of CO2 blown into the atmosphere. On the other hand, with one kg of soy-based meat substitute, there is only 2.8 kg of CO2 emissions in production. This is visualized in the figure below.
What can be deeply done to achieve net zero by 2050?
To achieve this goal, we need to push the plant-based substitute further. The feedback loop underneath shows the impact of changing to plant-based food as a circularity.
With this method, we can directly reduce the inflow of CO2 into the atmosphere (bathtub model). This can be a mitigation solution in the future. Another way to bring down our inflow in this market is to reduce the use of fossil fuels. Also, Kraft Heinz wants to achieve this goal by producing only with renewable energy and increasing the use intensity by 2025. This will also reduce production emissions from plant-based products. In order to really bring down CO2 emissions, the food needs to be locally grown and produced. This will reduce the travel distance between the land where the food grows, the production, and the local supermarket where the item gets sold. Less travel distance will lead to more time for producing this food and less CO2 emissions by transporting the plants too much.
A sustainable mindset when buying food would also be good. If people buy less food in the supermarket, they don´t have to throw much away when it becomes bad. In the supermarket, the customer could also go away from plastic packaging because the production of plastic packaging also has a high greenhouse gas emission. With that method, the waste of plastic packaging can be solved. Now, with all those methods above, we have a fully green supply chain from the field to the customer. We have our plant-based food grown with less fertilizer and pesticides in order to don´t poison the ground or the water.
From the field, we harvest the food with renewable energy-powered agricultural machines. This will be brought to the production, which is also powered by renewable energy and is near the field, in order to have short distances. The produced food will land in the supermarket, and people will buy it without any plastic packaging and won´t have to throw anything away.
Conclusion
In conclusion, making sustainable food choices is essential for our planet and our health. By eating more plant-based foods, supporting companies that are reducing their greenhouse gas emissions, and buying local, seasonal, and plastic-free products, we can create a more sustainable food supply chain. This holistic approach addresses environmental problems throughout the food system, from production to transportation to waste disposal. By making conscious choices, we can help to reduce our impact on the environment and create a healthier food system for future generations.
Sources:
Author: Rico Joel Siegelin, Student of MBA Sustainability Management Class 1 (2023-2025)