Food choices and environmental responsibility – protect the Baltic Sea

‘The Baltic environment, food and health: from habits to awareness – FOODWEB’ is a project that aims to raise public awareness about the links between food quality and its origin, focusing on the Baltic Sea and its surroundings. Cultivation of food for humans and related production activities can impact negatively on the Baltic Sea, and aquatic food products from the Baltic Sea may cause problems to humans as a result of toxins in the marine environment. This is a circular problem in the Baltic ecosystem. The project is a part of Central Baltic IVA Programme 2007- 2013. Finland, Estonia and Latvia take part in the Foodweb-project. The population is projected to grow in Finland and decrease in Estonia and Latvia. Regarding food consumption habits over the long term, the differences diminish among the countries and result in accordance with the assumption that social, economic and political changes influence eating habits. These changes might have had an effect on eating habits, especially increased consumption of meat. Baltic Sea is generally considered one of the most polluted seas in the world. Agriculture and the food chain are largely responsible for eutrophication and pollution of waterways. Food consumption forms a significant part of the environmental load of households. In the project area we share the common concern of environment and food safety issues. Majority of the residents are concerned about toxicants found in food. Environmental aspect is coming more important when selecting the diet and increasing knowledge of food safety are taking into account in national food recommendations. The eutrophication intensity varies among different foodstuffs: beef has the highest eutrophication intensity of all meats, about three times higher than that of pork, and seven times that of poultry. The eutrophication intensity of milk is relatively low. Nevertheless, the values associated with beef and milk are partly bound together, since a significant share of beef comes from milking cows. The eutrophication impacts of plants also vary among species: grain has the highest intensity of the plant-based raw materials. The modelling shows that in Finland eutrophication can be reduced by about 7 % by changing the food consumption habits towards a recommended direction, and currently private food consumption is not far from being in accord with recommendations. The major shift, about 7 % units from protein to carbohydrates, was reached in the scenario by applying a reduction to all protein foods, and an increment to all carbohydrate foods. This is because the foods containing animal proteins have greater eutrophication potential than carbohydrate foods, and shifting from the use of protein foods to carbohydrate foods should influence the state of eutrophication. In countries with nutrient-extensive agriculture, like Estonia and Latvia, the agricultural sector needs to develop without increasing nutrient surpluses.