Food Carbon Calculator

A line of red cattle walking across open grassland under a wide sky on Gorbea, in the Basque Country

99.48

kg CO₂e from land to shelf

Most production falls between 37.57 kg and 269.2 kg.

About the same CO₂ as driving 249 miles in an average US car.

Excludes cooking and anything after the shop. Poore & Nemecek (2018), via Our World in Data Photo by Basotxerri · CC BY-SA 4.0

Scroll from the land to the shop

Aerial view of a large area of cleared forest in Brazil, with a strip of remaining trees in the foreground

Land use change

23.24 kg CO₂e

Clearing land for food releases carbon from trees and soil.

Running total 23.24 kg CO₂e

Photo by Felipe Werneck / Ibama · CC BY 2.0

A combine harvesting a field of dry soybeans under a clear sky

Animal feed

2.68 kg CO₂e

Growing and processing what the animals eat.

Running total 25.92 kg CO₂e

Photo by United Soybean Board · CC BY 2.0

A tractor ploughing a field near Cressage, England, in low sun

Farm

56.23 kg CO₂e

Fertilizer, machinery and, for cattle, methane from digestion.

Running total 82.15 kg CO₂e

Photo by TCExplorer · CC BY-SA 2.0

Large flywheels and old machinery inside a former sugar factory, now an arts centre

Processing

1.81 kg CO₂e

Turning the harvest into something you can buy.

Running total 83.96 kg CO₂e

Photo by AwOiSoAk KaOsIoWa · CC BY-SA 3.0

Green beer bottles moving along conveyor lines in the filling hall of the Krostitzer brewery, Germany

Packaging

352 g CO₂e

Making the bottle, can, box or wrap.

Running total 84.31 kg CO₂e

Photo by ChristianBier · CC BY-SA 3.0

A container ship on the horizon at sea under an orange sunset

Transport

494 g CO₂e

Moving it from the farm to the shop.

Running total 84.80 kg CO₂e

Photo by ---=XEON=--- · CC BY 3.0

A long supermarket aisle with shelves and chilled cabinets on both sides, in Quebec City

Retail

234 g CO₂e

Running the shop, including keeping food chilled.

Running total 85.04 kg CO₂e

Photo by Wilfredor · CC BY-SA 4.0

A green waste bin full of discarded vegetables, fruit and packaged food, seen from above

Losses

14.44 kg CO₂e

Extra food that has to be produced because some is lost before it reaches the shelf.

Running total 99.48 kg CO₂e

Photo by Foerster · CC0

How sure is this number

Median60.36 kg

Mean99.48 kg

5th percentile37.57 kg

95th percentile269.2 kg

For 1 kg of Beef (beef herd). Based on 106 observations from 724 farms.

The main figure is the mean, the average of all production. The median is the middle: half of production falls above it and half below.

What other studies found

Each row is per 1 kg or 1 litre, as that study reports it, whatever amount is entered above.

Study	What it covers	kg CO₂e
Poore & Nemecek (2018)The figure used on the rest of this page.	World average, weighted by production, up to the retail store	99.48
AGRIBALYSE 3.2A database of the French market that follows food on to the consumer instead of stopping at the shop.	France, raw, not split by herd, includes home storage	28.9
SU-EATABLE LIFEDraws on figures from published studies, not a world average, and ends at the distribution centre or shop.	Literature median, up to the distribution centre, not split by herd, high uncertainty per the study	25.8
CFLCADDraws on studies from China and follows food to the table, counted per kg as eaten.	China, average of studies, not split by herd, per kg eaten, includes home cooking	15.7

All 43 foods, low to high

Per 1 kg or 1 litre, from the same study. Choose one to see it from the land to the shop.