This edited volume provides an innovative perspective on the future of food systems. The contributors analyse relevant issues for a sustainable and responsible food consumption and cover fundamental steps for a broader approach to the sustainability of meat-based products. The book presents several issues and solutions to engage food firms in a measurable ecological transition. Topics discussed include not only the pedagogical perspective on sustainable food consumption, the evolution of (meat-based) food production systems and the animal welfare perspective, but also the adaptation of firm’s strategies to the sustainable transition, the effects of climate change on agri-food firms’ governance structures and the evolution of consumers perceptions on meat-based products and the role of CSR labels. This book targets managers and entrepreneurs who work in the meat industry and are seeking to improve their socio-environmental performance and governance, accountants that works at the production of sustainability reports for food companies, researchers working at the cutting edge of the food and environmental fields, professionals working in the meat industry and researchers interested in the investigation of novelties in European food regulation.

Environmental Impact of Agro-Food Industry and Food Consumption covers trends associated with the impact of food production on the environment using lifecycle analysis and the standard methods used to estimate the food industry's environmental impact. The book discusses city-scale actions to estimate the environmental impact of food systems, including the meat chain, feeding crops to farmed fish, the confectionary industry, agriculture, tea processing, cheese production, the dairy industry, cold chain, and ice cream production. Food waste and consumption in hospitality and global diets round out these interesting discussions. Written for food scientists, technologists, engineers, chemists, governmental regulatory bodies, environmentalists, environmental technologists, environmental engineers, researchers, academics and professionals working in the food industry, this book is an essential resource on sustainability in the food industry. - Addresses all levels of the food chain - Provides solutions for the food industry to estimate and reduce environmental impact - Assists members of the food industry in optimizing their current performance and reducing their environmental footprint

Greenhouse gas emissions by the livestock sector could be cut by as much as 30 percent through the wider use of existing best practices and technologies. FAO conducted a detailed analysis of GHG emissions at multiple stages of various livestock supply chains, including the production and transport of animal feed, on-farm energy use, emissions from animal digestion and manure decay, as well as the post-slaughter transport, refrigeration and packaging of animal products. This report represents the most comprehensive estimate made to-date of livestocks contribution to global warming as well as the sectors potential to help tackle the problem. This publication is aimed at professionals in food and agriculture as well as policy makers.

This book highlights the latest findings and techniques related to nutrition and feed efficiency in animal agriculture. It addresses the key challenges facing the nutrition industry to achieve high animal productivity with minimal environmental impact. The concept of smart nutrition involves the use of smart technologies in the feeding and management of livestock. The first chapters focus on advances in biological fields such as molecular agriculture and genotype selection, as well as technologies that enhance or enable the collection of relevant information. The next section highlights applications of smart nutrition in a variety of livestock systems, ranging from intensive indoor housing of broilers and pigs to extensive outdoor housing of cattle and sheep, and marine fish farms. Finally, because of the worldwide attention to this issue, the authors address the environmental consequences. This work, which takes a serious look at how nutrition can be used to improve sustainability in animal agriculture, is a key literature for readers in animal and veterinary sciences, the food industry, sustainability research, and agricultural engineering.

This volume compiles state-of-the-art scientific knowledge on the technologies that are used to quantify and reduce the environmental impact of livestock production in the cattle, pig and poultry industries. It makes a serious statement about how such technology can contribute to the sustainability of the livestock industry in the future. As the global livestock sector is growing, modern farm animal production is increasingly regarded as a source of solid, liquid, gaseous and dust emissions, which can be both nuisance and environmentally harmful. In light of hardening regulations and social pressure, there is increasing interest in scientific research on air pollution and emissions from livestock operations. The present chapters focus on methodology improvement, harmonization of measurements, and modeling aspects. Key aspects, such as renewable energy sources, nutritional approaches to reduce enteric methane emissions, technical options for manure management, and the use of sensors, are covered. By sharing good practices, this book is a valuable reference for a diverse readership. Experts across the veterinary and animal sciences, agricultural engineering, the food industry and sustainability research will benefit from the findings.

In a changing climate, livestock production is expected to exhibit dual roles of mitigation and adaptation in order to meet the challenge of food security. This book approaches the issues of livestock production and climate change through three sections: I. Livestock production, II. Climate change and, III. Enteric methane amelioration. Section I addresses issues of feed quality and availability, abiotic stress (heat and nutritional) and strategies for alleviation, livestock generated nitrogen and phosphorus pollution, and approaches for harnessing the complex gut microbial diversity. Section II discusses the effects of climate change on livestock diversity, farm animal reproduction, impact of meat production on climate change, and emphasising the role of indigenous livestock in climatic change to sustain production. Section III deals with the most recent approaches to amelioration of livestock methane such as breeding for low methane emissions, reductive acetogenesis, immunization/vaccine-based concepts and archaea phage therapy.

The current analysis was conducted to evaluate the potential of nutritional, manure and animal husbandry practices for mitigating methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) - i.e. non-carbon dioxide (CO2) - GHG emissions from livestock production. These practices were categorized into enteric CH4, manure management and animal husbandry mitigation practices. Emphasis was placed on enteric CH4 mitigation practices for ruminant animals (only in vivo studies were considered) and manure mitigation practices for both ruminant and monogastric species. Over 900 references were reviewed; simulation and life cycle assessment analyses were generally excluded

This is a living document produced by the Livestock Environmental and Assessment Performance (LEAP) Partnership. The document presents a methodology and provides guidance for the assessment of the environmental performance of pig supply chains. It provides users guidance on how to apply the life cycle assessment approach to pig supply chains. Demand for livestock products is projected to grow 1.3 percent per year until 2050, driven by global population growth and increasing wealth and urbanization. This projected growth places significant pressure on the livestock sector to perform in a more sustainable way. Currently, many different methods are used to assess the environmental impacts and performance of livestock products. This causes confusion and makes it difficult to compare results and set priorities for continuing improvement. The intention of this document is to provide an overview assessment of existing studies and associated methods that have used life cycle assessment for the evaluation of pig supply chains.