As part of the cultural season of the Environmental Research Center

Lecturer Afaf Abdullrahman Ayoub

has been gave her lecture entitled "Your favorite food ...... and its impact on the environment" on Wednesday 22/5/2019 within the activities of the scientific season of the Environmental Research Center for the current academic year. A set of concepts

Some unhealthy foods may have an unexpected advantage compared to other foods that we consider healthy when talking about the carbon emissions that result from the food we consume.

At a time when humans are facing a global warming threat, we are increasingly aware that every intervention in nature will have an impact on the environment. This is already true for the food we eat.

Food transplants, packaged in factories, or transported in the form of goods all work through the combustion of fossil fuels, resulting in so-called greenhouse gases, which lead to heat retention in the atmosphere.

Scientists measure the impact of such processes on carbon emissions in the atmosphere, known as the "carbon fingerprint," which are often expressed by measuring the percentage of carbon dioxide generated by the consumption of every 100 grams of food.

In that way, it is possible to imagine a food pyramid, based on the damage that such small amounts of food do to the environment.

Meat and dairy products come at the base of the pyramid, causing the greatest damage to the environment, while fruits and vegetables are at the top of that pyramid because they are "eco-friendly" foods, because they help to preserve the environment.

Foods made up of whole grains, such as bread, pasta, and candy, are almost in the middle of that food pyramid.

However, this method focuses not only on the amount of energy absorbed by the body from those foods, but on the degree of environmental damage resulting from its consumption after its operations, from agriculture, processing, or transport