IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v10y2018i1p227-d127349.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Plant-Based Lunch at Work: Effects on Nutrient Intake, Environmental Impact and Tastiness—A Case Study

Author

Listed:
  • Mirjam E. Van de Kamp

    (Centre for Nutrition, Prevention and Health Services, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Antonie van Leeuwenhoeklaan 9, 3721 MA Bilthoven, P.O. Box 1, 3720 BA Bilthoven, The Netherlands)

  • Elisabeth H. M. Temme

    (Centre for Nutrition, Prevention and Health Services, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Antonie van Leeuwenhoeklaan 9, 3721 MA Bilthoven, P.O. Box 1, 3720 BA Bilthoven, The Netherlands)

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine the environmental impact, nutrient intake, appreciation and tastiness of three buffet-style lunches served at the workplace, consisting of (1) animal-based foods; (2) plant-based foods; and (3) both animal-based and plant-based foods. Employees of the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment in the Netherlands participated in the study. Participants scored the lunch for appreciation and tastiness (scores from 1 to 10). Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and land use associated with foods consumed were calculated using life cycle assessments. Nutrient intake was calculated using food composition data. The results show that both the plant-based and the combination lunch received higher scores for tastiness than the animal-based lunch. GHG emissions and land use were lowest for the plant-based lunch and highest for the animal-based lunch. The combination lunch was associated with increased fiber and decreased saturated fat intake compared to the animal-based lunch, but also lead to increased energy intake. The plant-based lunch did not increase energy intake, while increasing fiber intake and decreasing sodium (salt) and saturated fat intakes. These initial results show that plant-based lunches have the potential to improve nutrient intake and tastiness while reducing environmental impact. Additional research in this field is worthwhile.

Suggested Citation

  • Mirjam E. Van de Kamp & Elisabeth H. M. Temme, 2018. "Plant-Based Lunch at Work: Effects on Nutrient Intake, Environmental Impact and Tastiness—A Case Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(1), pages 1-14, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:1:p:227-:d:127349
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/1/227/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/1/227/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Garnett, Tara, 2011. "Where are the best opportunities for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the food system (including the food chain)?," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(S1), pages 23-32.
    2. Florent Vieux & Nicole N. Darmon & Djilali Touazi & Louis Georges Soler, 2012. "Greenhouse gas emissions of self-selected individual diets in France: Changing the Q23 diet structure or consuming less?," Post-Print hal-02649979, HAL.
    3. Garnett, Tara, 2011. "Where are the best opportunities for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the food system (including the food chain)?," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(Supplemen), pages 23-32, January.
    4. Vieux, F. & Darmon, N. & Touazi, D. & Soler, L.G., 2012. "Greenhouse gas emissions of self-selected individual diets in France: Changing the diet structure or consuming less?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 91-101.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Berill Takacs & Aiduan Borrion, 2020. "The Use of Life Cycle-Based Approaches in the Food Service Sector to Improve Sustainability: A Systematic Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-31, April.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Peter Scarborough & Paul Appleby & Anja Mizdrak & Adam Briggs & Ruth Travis & Kathryn Bradbury & Timothy Key, 2014. "Dietary greenhouse gas emissions of meat-eaters, fish-eaters, vegetarians and vegans in the UK," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 125(2), pages 179-192, July.
    2. Erica Doro & Vincent Réquillart, 2020. "Review of sustainable diets: are nutritional objectives and low-carbon-emission objectives compatible?," Review of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Studies, INRA Department of Economics, vol. 101(1), pages 117-146.
    3. van Dooren, C. & Keuchenius, C. & de Vries, J.H.M. & de Boer, J. & Aiking, H., 2018. "Unsustainable dietary habits of specific subgroups require dedicated transition strategies: Evidence from the Netherlands," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 44-57.
    4. Valeria De Laurentiis & Dexter V.L. Hunt & Christopher D.F. Rogers, 2016. "Overcoming Food Security Challenges within an Energy/Water/Food Nexus (EWFN) Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(1), pages 1-23, January.
    5. van Dooren, Corné & Douma, Annely & Aiking, Harry & Vellinga, Pier, 2017. "Proposing a Novel Index Reflecting Both Climate Impact and Nutritional Impact of Food Products," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 389-398.
    6. Reynolds, Christian John & Piantadosi, Julia & Buckley, Jonathan David & Weinstein, Philip & Boland, John, 2015. "Evaluation of the environmental impact of weekly food consumption in different socio-economic households in Australia using environmentally extended input–output analysis," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 58-64.
    7. Ariane Kehlbacher & Richard Tiffin & Adam Briggs & Mike Berners-Lee & Peter Scarborough, 2016. "The distributional and nutritional impacts and mitigation potential of emission-based food taxes in the UK," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 137(1), pages 121-141, July.
    8. Doro, Erica & Réquillart, Vincent, 2018. "Sustainable diets: are nutritional objectives and low-carbon-emission objectives compatible?," TSE Working Papers 18-913, Toulouse School of Economics (TSE).
    9. Rosemary Green & James Milner & Alan Dangour & Andy Haines & Zaid Chalabi & Anil Markandya & Joseph Spadaro & Paul Wilkinson, 2015. "The potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the UK through healthy and realistic dietary change," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 129(1), pages 253-265, March.
    10. van Dooren, C. & Marinussen, Mari & Blonk, Hans & Aiking, Harry & Vellinga, Pier, 2014. "Exploring dietary guidelines based on ecological and nutritional values: A comparison of six dietary patterns," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 36-46.
    11. Corné Van Dooren & Marcelo Tyszler & Gerard F. H. Kramer & Harry Aiking, 2015. "Combining Low Price, Low Climate Impact and High Nutritional Value in One Shopping Basket through Diet Optimization by Linear Programming," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(9), pages 1-19, September.
    12. Michael Martin & Miguel Brandão, 2017. "Evaluating the Environmental Consequences of Swedish Food Consumption and Dietary Choices," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(12), pages 1-21, December.
    13. Xiaoke Yang & Zhihang Zhang & Huangyixin Chen & Rongrong Zhao & Zhongyue Xu & Anguo Xie & Qiuhua Chen, 2019. "Assessing the Carbon Emission Driven by the Consumption of Carbohydrate-Rich Foods: The Case of China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(7), pages 1-15, March.
    14. Röös, Elin & Patel, Mikaela & Spångberg, Johanna & Carlsson, Georg & Rydhmer, Lotta, 2016. "Limiting livestock production to pasture and by-products in a search for sustainable diets," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 1-13.
    15. Johanna Ruett & Lena Hennes & Jens Teubler & Boris Braun, 2022. "How Compatible Are Western European Dietary Patterns to Climate Targets? Accounting for Uncertainty of Life Cycle Assessments by Applying a Probabilistic Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-21, November.
    16. Audrey Rocabois & Orsolya Tompa & Florent Vieux & Matthieu Maillot & Rozenn Gazan, 2022. "Diet Optimization for Sustainability: INDIGOO, an Innovative Multilevel Model Combining Individual and Population Objectives," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-16, October.
    17. Dorward, Leejiah J., 2012. "Where are the best opportunities for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the food system (including the food chain)? A comment," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(4), pages 463-466.
    18. Yue, Shen & Munir, Irfan Ullah & Hyder, Shabir & Nassani, Abdelmohsen A. & Qazi Abro, Muhammad Moinuddin & Zaman, Khalid, 2020. "Sustainable food production, forest biodiversity and mineral pricing: Interconnected global issues," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    19. Caillavet, France & Fadhuile, Adélaïde & Nichèle, Véronique, 2019. "Assessing the distributional effects of carbon taxes on food: Inequalities and nutritional insights in France," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 163(C), pages 20-31.
    20. Maiyar, Lohithaksha M & Thakkar, Jitesh J, 2019. "Environmentally conscious logistics planning for food grain industry considering wastages employing multi objective hybrid particle swarm optimization," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 220-248.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:1:p:227-:d:127349. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.