What is it about?

Packed salad and similar products are very energy intensive and make a great use of fossil fuels, mainly for the use of plastic package, for processing and for the distribution phase, while the incidence of transport is smaller. Packedproduces have an energy footprint that is about ten times greater unpacked ones sold in supermarkets and thirty times greater than fresh vegetables sold at farmers markets.

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Why is it important?

Assessing the energy footprint of food and its dependence on fossil fuels is fundamental in order to be more prepared to a possible reduced fuel availability, either for production peak or GHG emission reduction protocols

Perspectives

It is important to use an energy accounting in parallel with economic accounting, in order to acquire more consciousness about the sustainability of food production

Dr Marco Pagani
Universita degli Studi di Bologna

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This page is a summary of: Does packaging matter? Energy consumption of pre-packed salads, British Food Journal, July 2015, Emerald,
DOI: 10.1108/bfj-10-2014-0348.
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