Assessing Environmental Hotspots and Sustainable Development Goal Alignment in Food Production in India

Abstract

The global food system's unsustainable practices present considerable environmental risks while fulfilling essential nutritional needs. This study presents a comprehensive evaluation of the environmental impacts associated with commonly consumed food items in India. It focuses on eighteen representative products, grouped into five major food categories, and uses a production-focused Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) approach to analyze their environmental performance. Key environmental impacts, such as greenhouse gas emissions, land use, water consumption, and biodiversity loss, are characterized based on per capita consumption. Primary environmental hotspots in the life cycle of Indian household goods, particularly various food product categories, are identified. The findings are contextualized within several Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), specifically SDG 3, SDG 6, SDG 13, SDG 14, and SDG 15. Scenario analyses present four potential dietary shifts balancing high nutritional value with reduced environmental impact, suggesting that increasing the consumption of millets and sorghum could reduce environmental impacts by 62%–79%. This study underscores the critical role of dietary choices and sustainable agricultural practices, along with policy directives, to achieve sustainable production and consumption while enhancing nutritional adequacy.