A Dutch study Klaas Jan Kramer, Henri C Moll, Sanderine Nonhebel, Harry C Wilting, Greenhouse gas emissions related to Dutch food consumption, Energy Policy 27 (1999) 203-216, Elsevier Publications looks at GHG emissions from the Dutch food system and assesses the relationship between the GHG intensity of products and the household spending on them.
It also examines the relative contribution that the different kinds of GHG emissions make to Dutch food chain emissions.
The study concludes that CH4 and N2O are relatively more significant for the food chain than the cross sector average. It notes that GHG emissions during the product life cycles of pastry and rice are very different - the greenhouse gas intensity of rice is nearly five times greater than pastry because of the large quantities of methane which rice cultivation produces.
Finally the study concludes that while there tends to be a strong correlation between expenditure and the emission of CO2 , this is not the case for CH4 emissions. For example, meat, meat products and fish account for 40% of total household food spending but for more than 85% of CH4 emissions. Bread, pastry and flour products, and potatoes, vegetables and fruit account for 35% of household food spending but 55% of total N2O.
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