The food consumed annually by a family of four in the U.S. requires 970 gallons of gasoline to fertilize, produce, and transport. Helene York talks about one food service company's goal of reducing its carbon footprint while still maintaining a successful bottom line
What is the Low Carbon Diet?
The food system is generally thought to be responsible for about a third of the world's greenhouse gases. The Low Carbon Diet is an attempt by Bon Appétit Management Company to reduce our emissions. Since livestock production is responsible for a disproportionate part of greenhouse gas emissions, the first thing we wanted to accomplish was to reduce the amount of beef and cheese we serve. We announced the project in April 2007 with a goal of reducing beef purchases by 25% in two years.
[This article has been reproduced with permission from Qn, a publication of the Yale School of Management http://qn.som.yale.edu]