Paths to a sustainable food sector: integrated design and LCA of future food supply chains: the case of pork production in Sweden

• Published in: The international journal of life cycle assessment Vol. 21; no. 5; pp. 664 - 676
• Main Authors: Sonesson, Ulf Gunnar, Katarina Lorentzon, Annica Andersson, Ulla-Karin Barr, Jan Bertilsson, Elisabeth Borch, Carl Brunius, Margareta Emanuelsson, Leif Göransson, Stefan Gunnarsson, Lars Hamberg, Anna Hessle, Karl-Ivar Kumm, à se Lundh, Tim Nielsen, Karin Östergren, Eva Salomon, Erik Sindhöj, Bo Stenberg, Maria Stenberg, Martin Sundberg, Helena Wall
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.05.2016; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Agricultural practices; Animal and Dairy Science; animal health; animal manure management; Animal manures; Animal production; Animal welfare; Assessments; beef; breads; cheeses; chickens; climate; Climate change; Consequence assessment; Crop production; Crop rotation; Design analysis; Design engineering; Earth and Environmental Science; ecosystems; emissions; Emissions control; Environment; Environmental Chemistry; Environmental Economics; Environmental Engineering/Biotechnology; Eutrophication; experts; fertilizers; Food chains; Food consumption; food industry; Food plants; Food quality; food research; Food safety; Food Science; Food supply; food supply chain; Food system scenarios; Foods; Future food production; Global warming; Husdjursvetenskap; LCA; Lca of Nutrition and Food Consumption; Life cycle analysis; Life cycle assessment; Life cycles; Livsmedelsvetenskap; Meat processing; milk; nitrogen; nutrients; Other Agricultural Sciences not elsewhere specified; Pork; Primary production; primary productivity; product system; Production management; production technology; Sensory properties; smoked ham; supply chain; Supply chains; Sustainable agriculture; Sustainable food chains; Sweden; Swine production; systems engineering; Övriga andra lantbruksrelaterade vetenskaper; Sweden; ANE, Sweden; Environment; Sustainable food chains; LCA; Future food production; Food system scenarios; Consequence assessment
• ISSN: 0948-3349; 1614-7502; 1614-7502
• DOI: 10.1007/s11367-015-0969-5

PURPOSE: To describe a more sustainable food sector, a supply chain approach is needed. Changing a supply chain inevitably means that various attributes of the product and its system will change. This project assumed this challenge and delivered detailed descriptions, life cycle assessment (LCA) evaluations, and consequence assessments of the supply chains of six commodities, i.e., milk, cheese, beef, pork, chicken, and bread, from a Swedish region. This paper presents results for the pork supply chain. METHODS: In the project setup, experts on production along supply chains designed three scenarios for environmentally improved systems. These scenarios, i.e., the ecosystem, plant nutrients, and climate scenarios, were intended to address different clusters of environmental goals. The next step was to challenge these scenarios by considering their possible consequences for products and systems from the food safety, sensory quality, animal welfare, consumer appreciation, and (for primary production only) cost perspectives. This led to changes in production system design to prevent negative consequences. The final supply chains were quantified using LCA and were again assessed from the three perspectives. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: The scenario design approach worked well, thoroughly and credibly describing the production systems. Assessment of consequences bolstered the credibility and quality of the systems and results. The LCA of pig production and smoked ham identified large potentials for improvement by implementing available knowledge: global warming potential (GWP) could be reduced 21–54 % and marine eutrophication by 14–45 %. The main reason for these improvements was improved productivity (approaching the best producers’ current performance), though dedicated measures were also important, resulting in increased nitrogen efficiency, more varied crop rotations for crop production and better production management, and improved animal health and manure management for animal production. Reduced post-farm wastage contributed as did reduced emissions from fertilizer production. CONCLUSIONS: The working approach applied was successful in integrating LCA research with food system production expertise to deliver results relevant to supply chain decision-makers. The consequence assessments brought considerable value to the project, giving its results greater credibility. By introducing constraints in the form of “no negative consequences and no increased costs,” the work was “guided” so that the scenario design avoided being hampered by too many opportunities.