Christian John Reynolds

Are the Dietary Guidelines for Meat, Fat, Fruit and Vegetable Consumption Appropriate for Environmental Sustainability? A Review of the Literature

This paper reviews the current literature around the environmental impacts of dietary recommendations. The focus of the review is on collating evidence relating to environmental impacts of the dietary advice found in the World Health Organisation guidelines, and environmental impact literature: reducing the consumption of fat, reducing the consumption of meat-based protein and animal-based foods, and increasing the consumption of fruit and vegetables. The environmental impact of reducing dietary fat intake is unclear, although reducing consumption of the food category of edible fats and oils appears to have little impact. However most, but not all, studies support environmental benefits of a reduced consumption of animal-based foods and increased consumption of fruit and vegetables. In general, it appears that adhering to dietary guidelines reduces impact on the environment, but further study is required to examine the environmental impacts of animal-based foods, and fruit and vegetable intake in depth.

A Supply‐Use Approach to Waste Input‐Output Analysis

In this article, we extend Namakura and Kondos waste input‐output (WIO) framework by incorporating a supply‐use formalism, resulting in waste supply‐use tables (WSUTs). We present the theoretical underpinnings of the WSUT and, in particular, the transition from Nakamura and Kondos WIO form to the new WSUT form. Further, we offer a mathematical proof of the equivalence of WIO and WSUT multipliers. We illustrate the workings of the WSUT calculus using economic and waste data for the Australian economy in 2008–2009.

Estimating informal household food waste in developed countries: The case of Australia

Food waste is a global problem. In Australia alone, it is estimated that households throw away AU

The UK waste input–output table: Linking waste generation to the UK economy:

5.2 billion worth of food (AU

A sub-national economic complexity analysis of Australia’s states and territories

616 per household) each year. Developed countries have formal waste management systems that provide measures of food waste. However, much remains unknown about informal food waste disposal routes and volumes outside of the formal system. This article provides indicative metrics of informal food waste by identifying, in detail, five of the dominant informal food waste disposal routes used by Australian households: home composting, feeding scraps to pets, sewer disposal, giving to charity, and dumping or incineration. Informal waste generation rates are then calculated from three primary data sources, in addition to data from previous Australian and UK surveys, using a weighted average method in conjunction with a Monte-Carlo simulation. We find that the average Australian household disposes of 2.6 kgs of food waste per week through informal routes (1.7 kgs via household composting, 0.2 kgs via animals, and 0.6 kgs via sewage). This represents 20% of Australian household food waste flows. Our results highlight that informal food waste is a sizable food waste flow from Australian homes, deserving of greater research and government attention. Our examination of the full extent of food waste by disposal mode provides waste managers and policy makers with clear disposal routes to target for behaviour change and positive environmental outcomes.

An environmental evaluation of food waste downstream management options: a hybrid LCA approach

In order to achieve a circular economy, there must be a greater understanding of the links between economic activity and waste generation. This study introduces the first version of the UK waste input–output table that could be used to quantify both direct and indirect waste arisings across the supply chain. The proposed waste input–output table features 21 industrial sectors and 34 waste types and is for the 2010 time-period. Using the waste input–output table, the study results quantitatively confirm that sectors with a long supply chain (i.e. manufacturing and services sectors) have higher indirect waste generation rates compared with industrial primary sectors (e.g. mining and quarrying) and sectors with a shorter supply chain (e.g. construction). Results also reveal that the construction, mining and quarrying sectors have the highest waste generation rates, 742 and 694 tonne per £1m of final demand, respectively. Owing to the aggregated format of the first version of the waste input–output, the model does not address the relationship between waste generation and recycling activities. Therefore, an updated version of the waste input–output table is expected be developed considering this issue. Consequently, the expanded model would lead to a better understanding of waste and resource flows in the supply chain.

The Soft Power of Food

ABSTRACT A sub-national economic complexity analysis of Australia’s states and territories. Regional Studies. This paper applies economic complexity analysis to the Australian sub-national economy (nine regions with 506 exported goods and services). Using a 2009 Australian multi-regional input–output table for base data, we determine the number of export goods or services in which each state and territory has a revealed comparative advantage, and visualize the complexity of Australia’s interstate and international exports. We find that small differences in industrial capability and knowledge are crucial to relative complexity. The majority of states (especially Western Australia) export primarily resource-intensive goods, yet interstate trade has many complex products that are not currently internationally exported.

Compiling and using input–output frameworks through collaborative virtual laboratories

PurposeFood waste treatment methods have been typically analysed using current energy generation conditions. To correctly evaluate treatment methods, they must be compared under existing and potential decarbonisation scenarios. This paper holistically quantifies the environmental impacts of three food waste downstream management options—incineration, composting, and anaerobic digestion (AD).MethodsThe assessment was carried out using a novel hybrid input–output-based life cycle assessment method (LCA), for 2014, and in a future decarbonised economy. The method introduces expanded system boundaries which reduced the level of incompleteness, a previous limitation of process-based LCA.ResultsUsing the 2014 UK energy mix, composting achieved the best score for seven of 14 environmental impacts, while AD scored second best for ten. Incineration had the highest environmental burdens in six impacts. Uncertainties in the LCA data made it difficult determine best treatment option. There was significant environmental impact from capital goods, meaning current treatment facilities should be used for their full lifespan. Hybrid IO LCA’s included additional processes and reduced truncation error increasing overall captured environmental impacts of composting, AD, and incineration by 26, 10 and 26%, respectively. Sensitivity and Monte Carlo analysis evaluate the methods robustness and illustrate the uncertainty of current LCA methods. Major implication: hybrid IO-LCA approaches must become the new norm for LCA.ConclusionThis study provided a deeper insight of the overall environmental performance of downstream food waste treatment options including ecological burdens associated with capital goods.

Evaluation of the environmental impact of weekly food consumption in different socio-economic households in Australia using environmentally extended input-output analysis

Food is often cited as a form of soft power, with Joesph Nye explicitly mentioning food in his initial writings upon soft power. However, the understanding of food as a form of soft power remains questionable with most academics glossing over food’s soft power in preference to other forms that possess greater politically visibility. This paper addresses this lack of scholarly discussion that surrounds the subject of food as a source of soft power, providing a comprehensive guide to the utilisation of food as a vehicle for soft power. Citing contemporary academic and real world conceptualisations of soft power, this paper creates a framework to identify how soft power is implemented by political actors, allowing food to become both a source and a means of implementing coercion at different political levels. Case studies will validate this framework and cover the full spectrum of political actors including nation states (America and Japan); corporations (McDonalds and Monsanto); interest groups and organisations (Slow Food); as well as individuals (Michal Pollan and Jamie Oliver). This paper summates that food can be a useful soft power vehicle, and when applied correctly can produce control and coercion in both the political and social spheres.