Footprinting methods for assessment of the environmental impacts of food production and processing

This chapter introduces a number of different, but related accounting methods that can be used to assess the environmental impact of food production and processing; the methods are grouped under the banner of footprinting. Footprinting has only a short history, but from the original introduction of ecological footprinting in 1995, the methodology has expanded to include water footprinting, carbon footprinting and latterly environmental and nitrogen footprinting. The various methods share a common approach but include many different indicators to illustrate the environmental impact of production. Although not necessarily compatible they are complimentary. This chapter examines each method and uses examples to show how they can be used within the food sector