Resource use profile and nutritional value assessment of a typical Belgian meal, catered or home cooked, with pork or Quorn™ as protein source. (20th January 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Sturtewagen, L.; De Soete, W.; Dewulf, J.; Lachat, C.; Lauryssen, S.; Heirman, B.; Rossi, F.; Schaubroeck, T.
• Is Part Of: Journal of cleaner production. Volume 112:Part 1(2016:Jan.)
• Page Start: 196
• Page End: 204
• Publication Date: 2016-01-20
• Subjects: Life cycle assessment -- Nutritional density scoring -- Resource consumption -- Exergy -- Vegetarian -- Canteen meal; Factory and trade waste -- Management -- Periodicals; Manufactures -- Environmental aspects -- Periodicals; Déchets industriels -- Gestion -- Périodiques; Usines -- Aspect de l'environnement -- Périodiques; 628.5
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2015.09.006
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0959-6526

Abstract

Abstract: The nutritional value of food and its environmental impact have received considerable attention, however an assessment of environmental sustainability of catered meals is lacking. We therefore assessed the nutritional value and resource consumption of a specific catered meal, pork tenderloin with potato croquettes, carrots and mushroom sauce ('Canteen Pork'). The outcomes are compared with that of an identical meal cooked at home ('Home'), for which 'Low' and 'High' scoring hypothetical alternatives were defined (e.g. whether or not frying oil as a waste product was reprocessed or recycled), as well as with that of a vegetarian alternative: Quorn™. The resource consumption impact is assessed from cradle-to-disposal, expressed as the Cumulative Exergy Extraction from the Natural Environment (CEENE). Exergy is the amount of useful energy. The CEENE approach accounts for all resource types and is unique since it considers the deprived natural net primary production (expressed in exergy) as the impact for human land occupation, highly relevant for crop and thus food production. The food production, processing and packaging stage accounts for the largest amount of resource consumption compared to food preparation and waste management. The 'Home Pork High' scenario has the highest resource consumption at 83 MJex meal −1 . 'Home Pork Low', 'Home Quorn™ High', 'Canteen Pork', 'Home Quorn™ Low' and 'Canteen Quorn' have a 15, 18, 26, 32 and 40% lower resource consumption compared to 'Home Pork High', respectively. For all scenarios, biomass resources contribute 52–64% of the total CEENE, mainly through land occupation. The nutritional analysis, via nutritional density scoring (the higher the better), resulted in a score of 18.1 and 31.2 for the 'Home Quorn Low' and 'High', 10.4 and 23.4 for the 'Home Pork High' and 'Low' scenario and 17.0 and 27.3 for the 'Canteen Pork' and 'Canteen Quorn™', respectively. To conclude, the vegetarian meal scores best on both attributes, however, this effect diminishes considerably if one considers outcomes per energy or protein amount. With regards to catered vs home cooked meals, resource consumption is lower in canteen prepared meals than in the case of the home-cooked meal. However, the nutritional value can be lower or higher depending on consumer behaviour, namely the extent of the use, type and application of butter is key in altering this result. Graphical abstract: Highlights: Resource consumption is lower of catered than home-cooked meal. Difference in nutritional score depends highly on amount of butter used. The vegetarian meal scored best, to a lesser extent per energy or protein amount. Land occupation contributed the most (52–64%) to resource consumption.