Carbon Emission Effects Driven by Evolution of Chinese Dietary Structure from 1987 to 2020

Exploring carbon emission effects based on the evolution of residents’ dietary structure to achieve the carbon neutrality goal and mitigate climate change is an important task.This study took China as the research object(data excluding Hong Kong,Macao and Taiwan) and used the carbon emission coefficient method to quantitatively measure the food carbon emissions from 1987–2020,then analyzed the carbon emission effects under the evolution of dietary structure.The results showed that during the study period,the Chinese dietary structure gradually changed to a high-carbon consumption pattern.The dietary structure of urban residents developed to a balanced one,while that of rural residents developed to a high-quality one.During the study period,the per capita food carbon emissions and total food consumption of Chinese showed an increasing trend.The per capita food carbon emissions of residents in urban and rural showed an overall upward trend.The total food carbon emissions in urban increased significantly,while that in rural increased first and then decreased.The influence of beef and mutton on carbon emissions is the highest in dietary structure.Compared with the balanced dietary pattern,the food carbon emissions of Chinese residents had not yet reached the peak,but were evolving to a high-carbon consumption pattern.

Utilization effect of water-land resources under the evolution of Chinese dietary patterns

Exploring the utilization effect of water-land resources under the evolution of dietary patterns is of great significance in achieving sustainable global food consumption and the effective allocation of national resources.Our selected study area was China,a country with rapidly changing dietary consumption patterns,and the research period was between 1987 and 2020.Based on the material called Chinese Dietary Guidelines 2021,this study introduced the“virtual water”and the“virtual land”to quantify the utilization effect of water-land resources under the evolution of Chinese dietary patterns.Results showed that the dietary patterns gradually changed from“cereal-vegetable-based consumption”to“diversified consumption”.Food consumption’s total water footprint(WF)increased from 471.1 Gm3in 1987 to 848.8 Gm3in 2020,with a growth rate of 80.2%.Moreover,the total land requirement for food(LRF)increased from 88.8 Mha in 1987 to 129.9 Mha in 2020,with a growth rate of 46.3%.Furthermore,the meat consumption was the major contributor to the increase in total WF(104.0%)and LRF(102.1%).In contrast to the balanced diet pattern,there was no waste of water-land resources consumption for the food consumption of urban-rural residents in China between 1987 and 2020.However,the consumption of water resources would gradually approach the resource cost under the balanced diet patterns.It would eventually break through the critical value and reach the state of resource waste.In addition,the findings showed that urban residents’waste rate of water-land resources for meat consumption increased by 142.3%compared with that in 1987.The research results can provide scientific guidance for resolving the food crisis under the supply of water-land resources in China and have an essential reference for national food security and sustainable development of resources and environment.

中国植物性饮食结构调整具有显著的耕地资源效应

Food systems are already a major contributor to land degradation,and changes in global diets will exacerbate this situation[1].Population growth and affluent dietary patterns result in changes in land demand and land-use patterns,and up to 40% of global arable land and more than 30% of global food-crop production are used for animal feed[2].Furthermore,food-feed competition can result in an inadequate food supply[3].