Many people working in local or community food projects already know that they need to review how they operate in order to ensure they are doing as much as possible to reduce future negative impacts on the climate. This Climate Briefing, prepared by a team of climate and food system scientists, aims to help local and community food projects understand how the decisions they make affect the climate, and what practical changes they can make.
The paper outlines the basic science of climate change and the ways in which we produce and consume food cause up to one-third of all human-caused greenhouse gas emissions. The authors analyse how climate impacts vary between foods and how the decisions we make about foods have the potential to reduce emissions. The Climate Briefing concludes with a series of practical suggestions and steps people can take to reduce the impact of food systems, as well as suggested actions for governments.