Environmental footprints of German food consumption by gender and socio-economic status

Abstract

Germany's dietary patterns are among the most environmentally intensive in the world. In light of the multitude of environmental pressures originating from the current food system, we scrutinise the carbon, land, blue and green water foodprints of German consumers, distinguishing between two subgroups of interest: gender and socio-economic status. Using the multi-regional Food and Agriculture Biomass Input-Output model we are able to capture emissions throughout dispersed global supply chains. For allocating environmental responsibilities to the respective subgroups, we rely on the largest study to record eating habits and beverage consumption in Germany: the National Nutrition Study II. For male consumers, land requirements, carbon emissions and green water foodprints decline with increasing socio-economic status. Among females, differences in carbon, land, and green water foodprints across socio-economic strata are relatively minor and lack a consistent pattern. We identify meat and dairy product consumption to be the largest contributor to environmental foodprints, accounting for up to two-thirds of overall carbon emissions, land requirements and green water use. Notably, blue water use is highest among high socio-economic status females and males, largely driven by greater consumption of blue water-intensive foods such as nuts and seeds and fruits, vegetables, and legumes. Our results carry important policy implications, highlighting that prominent push measures – such as extending the Emissions Trading Scheme to the agricultural sector or introducing a meat tax – may have disproportionate adverse effects on households of low socio-economic status.