Solidifying and enhancing the data foundation for food footprinting. This contributes to the creation of PEF compliant datasets in WP2 and fills gaps in life cycle impact assessment methods.
Objectives
This WP aims to address SO1, SO3 and SO5. We do this by solidifying and enhancing the data foundation for food footprinting and in turn, create the basis for deriving PEF compliant datasets in WP2 and fill most relevant gaps in life cycle impact assessment methods.
SO-1Filling in the incomplete foundations of food footprint data by filling key blindspots
To increase knowledge of the environmental and climate impacts stemming from the food systems, we:
Fill food footprint blind spots of eutrophication, deforestation, marine foods, and antibiotic use.
Increase temporal, regional, subnational and product coverage and specificity of food impact databases.
Standardise production stressor accounts for multi-model application: Material Flow Analyses (MFAs)/ Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs)/Multi-regional Input-output models (MRIOs) and derive a Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) compliant database.
Advance footprinting tools for use in industry and regulation monitoring and goal-setting.
SO-3Perform foundation-strengthening improvements in existing mainstream public data tools.
To increase the accessibility of relevant high quality life cycle inventory data according to FAIR principles and the EU’s open science policy by setting up actions to develop, review and make available existing databases, we:
Collate and assess technological readiness, FAIRness and PEF compliance key food-impact datasets.
Set recommendations for (and implemented selected) improvements via data-provider engagement.
Increase dissemination and uptake of food impact knowledge via a specialist AI agent.
SO-5Advance knowledge of the environmental impacts of innovative food supply and transport solutions
To create robust evidence-based understanding of the impacts of food systems and identify and map opportunities and innovative solutions, we:
Increase traceability of food-linked supply chain impacts to better target interventions/solutions.
Evaluate trade methods and routes of all food traded from and to the EU and environmental sustainability.
Demonstrate innovative solutions to freeze products to allow for low-carbon cold chains by land and sea.
Tasks
T1:Breaking new ground: overcoming spatial and temporal limitations in agricultural production data
T2:Providing new-generation quantification of resource and energy use and eutrophying emissions in crop production
T3:Improving footprinting of feed and other resource use for animal products
T4:Modelling domestic and international trade and transport modes and emissions
T5:Align nutritional and environmental footprint data for easier direct comparison of environmental and dietary profile of foods
T6:Including Food Waste and Processing Into Food LCA Results
T7:Technical implementation and data merging for a PEF-compliant database