Epsilon Archive for Student Projects

Abstract

The rapid growth of the global food system has had a substantial negative impact on the environment. Simultaneously dietary habits in the west have continually degraded due to the increased availability of nutritionally inadequate and energy dense foods, often consumed as snacks. There is a need for both healthy and sustainable foods. Axfoundation has developed such a product, Råggyberry (RB), an alternative to the popular snack-food rice pudding (RP). The aim of this study was to assess the environmental impact of RB and compare it to the impact of RP while relativizing these impacts to each products nutritional content. This was done by the conduction of a nutritional life cycle assessment (n-LCA), using the Nutrient rich food index 11.3 (NRF11.3) as a nutritional indicator. The system boundaries for the assessment were cradle to ready-to-eat products (at production site). The results showed that RB had lower environmental impact than its conventional counterpart, both in general and especially in relation to its nutritional content. Moreover, the assessment showed that primary production was the production stage with the highest impact across all impact categories for both products. Although primary production and transportation in RB was more evenly distributed within the climate impact category due to the transportation of apples. In both products the dairy-based ingredients had the biggest impact on Climate impact and land use. The apples in RB, accounted for the biggest impact to water use, while for RP its the strawberries and rice. In conclusion, RB is both a healthier and more sustainable alternative to a conventional RP. However, given the fact RB is a niche product dependent on waste-streams and is produced at small scale, there might be challenges in upscaling production and reaching wide market success.