Future Now
The IFTF Blog
Food Miles Calculation (i.e. Guessing at It) from CarbonFund
This is pretty lame:
Hi Anthony,
I received a response from CarbonFund about their inclusion of food in the calculations for carbon-neutrality…See below…
Brian A. Overington
Management Associate
The Research Triangle Park
12 Davis Drive, PO Box 12255
Research Triangle Park, NC 27709
Ph 919.433.2001
Fax 919.549.8246
www.rtp.org
Hi Brian,
When we consider what the actual impact is in terms of carbon emissions for an event, we try to incorporate all aspects, from travel (the biggest), to energy used at the venue (heating, cooling, lighting…), the hotel-nights because having a bunch of people staying in hotels as a necessity of attending the conference contributes to that individual’s carbon footprint for the event, AND finally food. The most recent stat that I read indicates that as an American, every bite of food we eat has traveled an average of 1,500 miles. When a conference brings thousands of people together requiring thousands of pounds of food that has traveled thousands of miles, the related carbon emissions should be considered in the overall footprint of the event. That said, as explained in the previous email, travel is by far the biggest part, while the other aspects are included to make the footprint as complete as possible with the given information.
I hope that helps answer your question. Please let me know if you need anything else.
Cheers,
Kory Kramer
Climate Change Specialist
Carbonfund.org Foundation
Reduce what you can. Offset what you can't.
(240) 247-0628
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