Eating habits of westerns mainly Caucasians is the most harmful as their food requires more water and release more greenhouse gases during production. A study published in the Journal of Ecology had a look into what different demographic populations eat at different hours of the day, how much greenhouse gas those foods are responsible for, and how much land and water they require. The study was undertaken to get a better understanding of the environmental impacts of the food consumption patterns of major demographic groups so that environmental policies designed to reduce the negative impacts of food production.
Students from the University of Illinois at Chicago in the US stated that the food pipeline which includes its production, distribution, and waste contributes significantly to climate change through the production of greenhouse gases and requires significant amounts of water and land, which also has environmental effects. Foods considered to be ‘environmentally intense,’ included those that require more water, land, and energy and produce more greenhouse gases than other foods.
Apples, potatoes, beef, and milk are among the most environmentally intense foods. Researchers found that white individuals produced an average of 680 kilograms of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide each year that can be directly linked to what they ate and drank. Whites tend to drink more water and milk. Milk itself requires a lot of water to produce when you consider livestock cultivation, so that is part of what we think is pushing their water impacts higher.
