Integrating Protein Quality and Quantity with Environmental Impacts in Life Cycle Assessment

Andrew Berardy, Carol S. Johnston, Alexandra Plukis, Maricarmen Vizcaino and Christopher Wharton
Additional contact information
Andrew Berardy: Swette Center for Sustainable Food Systems, Arizona State University, 800 Cady Mall, Tempe, AZ 85281, USA
Carol S. Johnston: College of Health Solutions, Arizona State University, 550 N 3rd St, Phoenix, AZ 85004, USA
Alexandra Plukis: School of Computing, Informatics, and Decision Systems Engineering, Arizona State University, 699 S Mill Ave, Tempe, AZ 85281, USA
Maricarmen Vizcaino: College of Health Solutions, Arizona State University, 550 N 3rd St, Phoenix, AZ 85004, USA
Christopher Wharton: College of Health Solutions, Arizona State University, 550 N 3rd St, Phoenix, AZ 85004, USA

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 10, 1-11

Abstract: Life cycle assessment (LCA) evaluates environmental impacts of a product from material extraction through disposal. Applications of LCA in evaluating diets and foods indicate that plant-based foods have lower environmental impacts than animal-based foods, whether on the basis of total weight or weight of the protein content. However, LCA comparisons do not differentiate the true biological value of protein bioavailability. This paper presents a methodology to incorporate protein quality and quantity using the digestible indispensable amino acid score (DIAAS) when making comparisons using LCA data. The methodology also incorporates the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) reference amounts customarily consumed (RACCs) to best represent actual consumption patterns. Integration of these measures into LCA provides a mechanism to identify foods that offer balance between the true value of their protein and environmental impacts. To demonstrate, this approach is applied to LCA data regarding common protein foods’ global warming potential (GWP). The end result is a ratio-based score representing the biological value of protein on a GWP basis. Principal findings show that protein powders provide the best efficiency while cheeses, grains, and beef are the least efficient. This study demonstrates a new way to evaluate foods in terms of nutrition and sustainability.

Keywords: life cycle assessment; protein; diet; sustainability; environmental impacts; plant-based diets (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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