Greenhouse gas emissions of organically and conventionally produced food - comparison based on case studies in the vicinity of Frankfurt am Main.

Question
How many emissions do organically produced foods cause compared to conventional ones? What production methods are particularly climate-friendly or harmful? What role does regionality play? These were the questions addressed in the Master's thesis entitled:

Greenhouse gas emissions of organically and conventionally produced food.

Approach and methods
The emissions of the products beef, eggs and milk from farmers within a radius of 100 km around Frankfurt am Main are examined. The greenhouse gases produced on the farm, in upstream processes and in transport to Frankfurt are calculated in CO2 balances. By comparing the results, the aim is to find out which methods cause particularly high/low emissions and to what extent this is related to the agricultural system (organic/conventional).

Results
The emissions of the organic farms studied differ depending on the product: for beef they are lower than those of the conventional farms, for eggs they are higher and for milk they are similarly high. Different production methods were also identified as more climate-friendly, e.g. extensive free-range farming in beef production. However, due to farm-specific influences, these results should not be generalised. Emissions from transport, on the other hand, only account for a small proportion of total emissions on all farms. In logistics planning, attention should therefore be paid above all to avoiding car journeys by customers, as these cause much higher emissions per kilogram of food. Overall, it should be noted that greenhouse gas emissions are only one environmental impact of agriculture; for a full assessment of environmental friendliness, the other impacts such as animal welfare and biodiversity must also be taken into account.

Period
August 2020 to March 2021

Participants
Prepared by Samuel Fast
Supervised by Prof. Dr Michael Huth and Dr Anna-Mara Schön