The Food Industry

Over 10% of the nation’s energy budget is used to bring the food we eat from the farm to the fork. To simplify and calculate the carbon footprint of food, we have broken the process down into four parts: agriculture, transportation, processing, and food handling.

Agricultural

The growth and cultivation of food crops consumes roughly 21% of the total energy that goes into producing food. Agricultural energy uses includes everything from the production of fertilizers and pesticides to the fuel used by John Deere tractors to harvest the crops.

Transportation

The transportation of food from farm to table accounts for about 14% of the energy that goes into producing food. That’s equivalent to about 2% of the nation’s total energy consumption. Food transportation consumes 1,360 trillion BTUs of energy per year.

Processing

Food processing takes up an increasingly large share of the energy used in food production. In recent years, it has jumped from 11%-16% of the total amount of energy use in the food system Processing refers to the transformation of raw ingredients into a food product, such as the processing of raw corn into cereal. Food processing consumes 1,640 trillion BTUs of energy per year.

Handling

Food handling is the largest sector of energy in producing food, and accounts for nearly half of the energy used in food production – over 5,000 trillion BTUs. This sector of the food system includes food packaging, service and sales, and residential energy consumption. In other words, it refers to the energy used to package milk and keep it refrigerated both in the grocery store and at home. **Source**

Carbon Outliers:

Heat-trapping rate

While the gas itself is irrelevant, the RATE at which the gas traps heat is key (likewise for each subsequent Green House Gas). To calculate accurate Blunit values, these gases must be converted into their Carbon Equivalents by way of calculating their Global Warming Potential.

Total carbon that we factor into a Blu-nit comes from adding these four categories together to get the sum total:

CarbonTotal = CAGR + CTransport + CProcess + CHandle

As The ®Blu-nit Organization builds partnerships with the various entities that produce, transport, process, and sell to the consumer, we will be able to bring more information and transparency to you in regards to how long it will take the environment to rebound from the creation of the product that you seek to purchase.