The Hidden Environmental Costs of Food
By Lydia DePillis, Manuela Andreoni and Catrin Einhorn, The New York Times.
Excerpt: ...our grocery bills would be considerably more expensive if environmental costs were included, researchers say. ...For years, economists have been developing a system of “true cost accounting” based on a growing body of evidence about the environmental damage caused by different types of agriculture. Now, emerging research aims to translate this damage to the planet into dollar figures. By displaying these so-called true prices, sometimes next to retail prices, researchers hope to nudge consumers, businesses, farmers and regulators to factor in the environmental toll of food. The proponents of true cost accounting don’t propose raising food prices across the board, but they say that increased awareness of the hidden environmental cost of food could change behavior. We asked True Price, a Dutch nonprofit group ...to provide a window into some of their research. They came up with a data set that compares the estimated environmental costs of common foods produced in the United States, divided into three categories: Climate change caused by greenhouse gas emissions, water usage, and ecosystem effects from land use, including loss of biodiversity....
Beef $5.34/lb retail + Environmental cost $22.02 = Total: $27.36
Cheese $3.74/lb retail + Environmental cost $3.76 = Total: $7.50
Chicken $2.20/lb retail + Environmental cost $1.83 = Total: $4.03
Tofu $2.42/lb retail + Environmental cost $0.21 = Total: $2.63
Chickpeas $1.46/lb retail + Environmental cost $0.74 = Total: $2.20
Beef $5.34/lb retail + Environmental cost $22.02 = Total: $27.36
Cheese $3.74/lb retail + Environmental cost $3.76 = Total: $7.50
Chicken $2.20/lb retail + Environmental cost $1.83 = Total: $4.03
Tofu $2.42/lb retail + Environmental cost $0.21 = Total: $2.63
Chickpeas $1.46/lb retail + Environmental cost $0.74 = Total: $2.20