Does the environmental gain of switching to the healthy New Nordic Diet outweigh the increased consumer cost?

TY - GEN

T1 - Does the environmental gain of switching to the healthy New Nordic Diet outweigh the increased consumer cost?

AU - Saxe, Henrik

AU - Jensen, Jørgen Dejgård

N1 - Conference code: 9

PY - 2014

Y1 - 2014

N2 - The New Nordic Diet (NND) was designed by gastronomic, nutritional and environmental specialists to be a palatable, healthy and sustainable diet containing 30-40% less meat than the Average Danish Diet (ADD), ≥75% organics, and more locally grown wholegrain products, nuts, fruit and vegetables. In this study, the NND was based on economic modelling to represent a “realistic NND bought by Danish consumers”. The objective was to investigate whether the ADD-to-NND diet-shift has environmental consequences that outweigh the increased consumer cost of the diet-shift. The diet-shift reduced the three most important environmental impacts by 16-22%, mainly caused by reduced meat content. The surcharge to consumers of the ADD-to-NND diet-shift was €216/capita/year. In monetary terms, the savings related to the environmental impact of the diet-shift were €151/capita/year. 70% of the increased consumer cost of the ADD-to-NND diet-shift was countered by the reduced socioeconomic advantage associated with the reduced environmental impact of the NND.

AB - The New Nordic Diet (NND) was designed by gastronomic, nutritional and environmental specialists to be a palatable, healthy and sustainable diet containing 30-40% less meat than the Average Danish Diet (ADD), ≥75% organics, and more locally grown wholegrain products, nuts, fruit and vegetables. In this study, the NND was based on economic modelling to represent a “realistic NND bought by Danish consumers”. The objective was to investigate whether the ADD-to-NND diet-shift has environmental consequences that outweigh the increased consumer cost of the diet-shift. The diet-shift reduced the three most important environmental impacts by 16-22%, mainly caused by reduced meat content. The surcharge to consumers of the ADD-to-NND diet-shift was €216/capita/year. In monetary terms, the savings related to the environmental impact of the diet-shift were €151/capita/year. 70% of the increased consumer cost of the ADD-to-NND diet-shift was countered by the reduced socioeconomic advantage associated with the reduced environmental impact of the NND.

M3 - Article in proceedings

SP - 1184

EP - 1193

BT - Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Life Cycle Assessment in the Agri-Food Sector

A2 - Schenck, Rita

A2 - Huizenga, Douglas

PB - American Center for Life Cycle Assessment

T2 - 9th International Conference on Life Cycle Assessment in the Agri-Food Sector

Y2 - 8 October 2014 through 10 October 2014

ER -