Comparing the carbon footprints of urban and conventional agriculture
January 22, 2024 | Nature Cities |
Introduction: Urban agriculture (UA) is seen as a key solution for creating sustainable urban food systems. In collaboration with European researchers, a US research team based in University of Michigan compared the environmental impact of UA to conventional agriculture across 73 sites in Europe and the United States.
Key findings: Results showed that UA produces six times more carbon emissions per serving compared to conventional farming. However, some UA crops and sites outperform conventional agriculture, suggesting ways to reduce climate impact. Recommendations include cultivating crops typically grown in greenhouses or air-freighted, prolonging UA infrastructure lifespan, and utilizing urban waste for inputs. Despite UA's higher carbon intensity, it offers social benefits like improved mental health and community building. Future research should explore strategies to mitigate UA's environmental impact while maximizing its social and nutritional benefits.
Figure | Infrastructure and carbon footprints at urban agriculture sites.
Viewed Articles
January 22, 2024 | Nature Cities |Introduction: Urban agriculture (UA) is seen as a key solution for creating sustainable urban food systems. In collaboration with European researchers, a US research
Read More
April 20, 2023 | Journal of Cleaner Production | Source | Introduction: Fresh food cold supply chains (CSCs) in developing countries face major sustainability issues, including food waste, high energ
April 14, 2022 | Earth System Science Data | Source | Introduction: Traditional assessments have underestimated global GHG emissions from agrifood systems by focusing mainly on farm-level production a
June 23, 2022 | Science | Introduction: Without rapid changes to agriculture and food systems, the goals of the 2015 Paris Agreement will not be met. In this review, researchers led by the University
August 06, 2021 | Communications Earth & Environment | Introduction: Rice paddies are widely discussed for methane emissions, but their role as carbon stores is less consistently quantified. Led by C
February 25, 2019 | Journal of Pest Science | Introduction: Climate change is intensifying crop pest threats globally, disrupting species distribution, outbreak timing, and pest–natural enemy dynamic
