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Reduction of the carbon footprint of college freshman diets after a food-based environmental science course

Author

Listed:
  • Jennifer A. Jay

    (Civil and Environmental Engineering
    Institute of the Environment and Sustainability)

  • Raffaella D’Auria

    (Institute of the Environment and Sustainability)

  • J. Cully Nordby

    (Institute of the Environment and Sustainability)

  • David Andy Rice

    (Institute of the Environment and Sustainability
    Miami University in Ohio)

  • David A. Cleveland

    (University of California Santa Barbara)

  • Anthony Friscia

    (Integrative Biology and Physiology)

  • Sophie Kissinger

    (Natural Resources Defense Council)

  • Marc Levis

    (University of California Los Angeles)

  • Hannah Malan

    (Fielding School of Public Health)

  • Deepak Rajagopal

    (Institute of the Environment and Sustainability)

  • Joel R. Reynolds

    (Natural Resources Defense Council)

  • Wendelin Slusser

    (Healthy Campus Initiative)

  • May Wang

    (Fielding School of Public Health)

  • Emily Wesel

    (Civil and Environmental Engineering)

Abstract

The goal of this study was to evaluate the impact of a two-quarter freshman course series entitled “Food: A Lens for Environment and Sustainability” (Food cluster) on the carbon footprint of food choices by college freshmen attending a large public university in California. Students enrolled in the course completed a baseline questionnaire about their diets in early fall quarter and then again at follow-up, about 6 months later at the end of the winter quarter. The control group consisted of freshmen enrolled in a different course series entitled “Evolution of the Cosmos and Life” (Cosmos cluster). The instruction in the Food cluster included lecture material on general environmental science and life cycle analyses of food, an analysis of a reading comparing the environmental footprint of various types of meats, and classroom exercises to calculate the environmental footprint of typical foods. The Cosmos cluster instruction included climate change, but no information about food. While the two groups were statistically indistinguishable at baseline, throughout the period of the study, Food cluster students decreased (a) their overall dietary carbon footprint for a 2000-kcal normalized diet by 7% (p = 0.062), (b) the beef component of their dietary carbon footprint by 19% (p = 0.024), and (c) their reported ruminant consumption by 28% (p

Suggested Citation

  • Jennifer A. Jay & Raffaella D’Auria & J. Cully Nordby & David Andy Rice & David A. Cleveland & Anthony Friscia & Sophie Kissinger & Marc Levis & Hannah Malan & Deepak Rajagopal & Joel R. Reynolds & We, 2019. "Reduction of the carbon footprint of college freshman diets after a food-based environmental science course," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 154(3), pages 547-564, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:climat:v:154:y:2019:i:3:d:10.1007_s10584-019-02407-8
    DOI: 10.1007/s10584-019-02407-8
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    3. David Arthur Cleveland & Quentin Gee & Audrey Horn & Lauren Weichert & Mickael Blancho, 2021. "How many chickens does it take to make an egg? Animal welfare and environmental benefits of replacing eggs with plant foods at the University of California, and beyond," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 38(1), pages 157-174, February.
    4. Nanna Meyer & Mary Ann Kluge & Sean Svette & Alyssa Shrader & Andrea Vanderwoude & Bethany Frieler, 2021. "Food Next Door: From Food Literacy to Citizenship on a College Campus," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(2), pages 1-24, January.

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