Assessing Food System Sustainability: Insights from LCA Theory and Practice

Food systems are critical drivers of anthropogenic environmental change. Given the complexity of the interlinked series of industrial activities underpinning the production, processing, distribution and consumption of food commodities, understanding and mitigating the environmental dimensions of global food systems requires a systemic perspective and analytical techniques of commensurate scope. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is an ISO-standardized biophysical accounting framework used to (1) compile an inventory of material/energy flows and emissions characteristic of each stage of a product or service life cycle and (2) quantify the contributions of these flows to a suite of resource and emissions-related environmental impact categories. The information produced is relevant to identifying opportunities for environmental performance improvements within existing supply chains, and also for making comparisons of the relative efficiencies of competing production technologies. A key strength of this approach is that it brings a suite of related biophysical accounting techniques under the umbrella of a single, consistent methodological framework, creating opportunities for nuanced comparisons along multiple dimensions of environmental performance. This presentation will describe the theoretical basis of LCA, discuss key insights that have emerged from food systems research world-wide, and present findings from past and on-going LCA research of North American food production systems.