1.
Zero Carbon Britain
Food and Farming

2.
• Green House Gas emissions from agriculture would be reduced
by 75%
• 85% of our food would be produced in the UK
• Improved health from eating a better, more balanced diet
• Less protein more plants would mean 75% of the land currently
used for grazing livestock would be repurposed.
Repurposed land could diversify into:
- Sustainable growing of all the biomass required to support our
energy system
- Doubling forested areas to 24% of land use in the UK and
restoring 50% of UK peatlands to capture carbon
- Providing more room for biodiversity in wild, conserved or
protected areas

3.
• Agriculture is responsible for about 10% of
UK GHG emissions (DECC, 2012)
• 75% of agricultural land is used for grazing
and growing feed (DEFRA, 2011)
• 57% of agricultural GHG emissions are
directly attributable to livestock such as
cows and sheep (Garnett, 2007)
• The average UK diet is higher in energy and
protein than recommended (FSA ,2007;
Garnett,2007)
• About 30% of produced food is wasted
(FAO, 2011)
SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE
Source:www.grain.org

4.
• To reduce agricultural emissions, livestock
production must reduce
• Reduced production will
- reduce methane and Nitrous oxide
emissions
- reduce over consumption of livestock
- reduce nutrition related diseases
- free land up for alternative uses
- save water
- improve biodiversity
- reduce food waste
- economic benefit
EVIDENCE FOR POLICY

5.
• Policies that encourage land use changes from
livestock production
• Education
• Changes in lifestyle and consumption patterns
Major Constraints
• Political will
• Public acceptance and adoption
• Commercial resistance
SOLUTIONS

6.
URBAN FOOD PROBLEMS IN THE UK
• Urban populations rapidly increasing,
resulting in growing demands for food
• Food access is unequal in urban areas
based on barriers such as income - poorer
areas likely to have less fresh food
resources than richer ones.
• Zero Carbon Britain report states that the
UK has 3.28 million hectares of urban
land, 1 million of which is potentially
agriculturally-productive
Fig. 1 adapted from fooddeserts.org
No food shops
General grocery store with less than ten kinds of fruit/vegetables
General grocery store with more than ten kinds of fruit/vegetables
Supermarket

7.
VERTICAL FARMING AS A SOLUTION
• Vertical farming is the growth of food within skyscrapers,,
and is designed to function as self-sufficient
- Can recycle water, waste and energy eg. feeding tilapia
on food waste or developing liquid fertilizer and bio-fuel
• London as a site of development has high market
potential as a rich city with high levels of environmental
consciousness (Banerjee & Adenaeuer, 2014)
- May be utilized to work alongside popularity of urban
farms and rooftop gardens
- Could also offer additional benefits in employment or in
dual-use as housing
- Policy must work to ensure that potential community
benefits are felt
• Retrofitting an option for certain buildings
• Represents a paradigm shift in how we consider
agriculture

8.
CURRENT PROGRESS & LIMITATIONS
• Success of solar panels in Queen Elizabeth
Olympic Park demonstrates how
photovoltaic systems may be developed
on urban rooftops, the energy from which
may be used in food production to reduce
carbon emissions (Nash et al., 2015)
• Only exists on a small scale in few places
eg. Green Spirit Farms in Detroit.
• Berlin research has found that yields are
higher than their field equivalents, but
employment costs may reach €50,000 a
year per personnel and power costing €5.4
million
• As a closed system, all aspects must be
closely monitored
Fig. 2 (Banerjee & Adenaeuer, 2014)

9.
Scientific Background: Issues
• Global population expansion – up to 7.4 bn
in March 2016 (Worldometers.info)
• Issues with global food supply and demand
• United Kingdom – large population (> 65 mn).
• Large waste problem – 4.2 million tonnes of
fresh food and drink per year (WRAP 2012)
• Leading to soil deterioration
• Heavily compacted and stressed
• Artificial fertilisers
• Increased runoff and erosion
• How do you feed 7.4 billion people?
www.populationmatters.org/

10.
Scientific Background: Solutions
• Matrix farming landscapes
• Mixing cash crops with biofuel (e.g. oilseed
rape)
• “Green manure” – clovers, trefoils and rapeseed
(Boydston and Hang 1995) – e.g. Tolhurst Farm
Partnership (cited in Juniper 2015)
• Biomimicry
• Natural systems as models for greater efficiency
• Further research into ecosystem relationships
required
• Reducing food waste
• “Bulk buying”
• “Zero waste home” concept (Johnson 2013)
http://www.agritech.tnau.ac.in/agriculture/agri_greenmanuring_
agronomygreenleafmanures.html
http://scottishartistandhisgarden.blogspot.com/2013/10/autumn
-soil-cultivations.html
http://scottishartistandhisgarden.blogspot.com/2013/10/autumn
-soil-cultivations.html

11.
Feeding the Future: the Permaculture
Research Institute
• Solar greenhouses
• Food forests (Fukuoka 2010)
• Organic polyculture
• Crops as processing units – nitrogen
and phosphorus fixation, weed
suppression
• Bio-digestion
• Slurry processing
• Education
• School gardens

12.
Practical Solutions for Managing
Environmental Change
Changes utilised on a nationwide and household level
- Mapping energy use
- Understanding UK weather patterns and temperature
- Renewable energy sources
- Energy storage solutions
- Reducing consumption
- Dietary changes

13.
Dietary Changes
- Less meat consumption especially beef
- Uses 11 times more water and 28 times more land than poultry and
pork
- Less use of resources for feed stocks inc. fertiliser and water
- Reduction of methane emissions (biggest producer of methane)
- Eating more local and seasonal food, fewer food miles, no need to
import food from elsewhere out of season
- Food wastage, discourage household food waste, supermarket
policies

14.
Farming Solutions
• Using sustainable energy on farms and food processing
• Green energy quotas – percentage of energy must be sustainable
• Support local farms
• Biofuels for farm equipment
• Support farmers in reducing livestock
• Subsidies for solar and wind power

15.
Summary
• Practical Perspective – Supporting local farmers and
Reducing food waste is key
• Low Carbon Diet – Public acceptance, Passing policies,
Education (Both public and private sectors)
• Vertical Farming – Optimistic, lack of data, part of a
multifaceted approach
• Scientific Background – Shortage of soil scientists, general
lack of research and funding