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We often hear about the importance of reducing food-related carbon emissions, but did you know that some foods can actually remove carbon from the atmosphere? These “carbon-negative” foods leave the planet in a better state than before, offering a way to both nourish ourselves and help combat climate change.

The Carbon Cost of Food

Food production is responsible for roughly a quarter of global greenhouse gas emissions, stemming from sources like fuel-powered farm equipment, fertiliser production, and methane from livestock digestion. While shifting toward low-carbon diets helps reduce emissions, incorporating carbon-negative foods into our meals can actively reverse some of the damage.

How Carbon-Negative Foods Work

When plants grow, they absorb carbon dioxide (CO₂) from the air. However, when consumed by humans or animals, this carbon is usually re-released. To truly be carbon-negative, food production must trap and store carbon long-term—whether in soil, deep-sea environments, or trees—removing it from the atmosphere.

While making an entire diet carbon-negative would require significant dietary and agricultural shifts, some foods already contribute to this process.

Kelp: The Ocean’s Carbon Sponge

Kelp and other macroalgae absorb CO₂ as they grow, and when parts of the plant sink to the ocean floor, some of that carbon is stored long-term. However, for kelp-based foods to be truly carbon-negative, their supply chains must be efficient, minimising emissions from transport, processing, and packaging. Despite current challenges, increasing demand for locally-sourced kelp could drive restoration efforts for disappearing kelp forests—offering both climate and ecological benefits.

Bacteria-Based Foods: Turning Methane into Protein

Methane-oxidising bacteria, found in various environments, consume methane—a greenhouse gas 30 times more potent than CO₂. Consuming products derived from these bacteria effectively converts methane into CO₂, which has a much lower climate impact. Some companies are exploring bacterial protein powders and meat alternatives, though commercial availability remains limited. In 2023, Finnish company Solar Foods introduced an ice cream in Singapore made from a different bacteria-based protein, hinting at the future potential of these climate-friendly foods.

Peatland Crops: Carbon-Storing Blueberries and Celery

Peatlands naturally accumulate carbon faster than they release it, making them effective carbon sinks. Some crops—like blueberries, cranberries, and celery—can be grown on rewetted peatlands, making them potential carbon-negative foods. However, this benefit is often negated by energy-intensive supply chains, particularly for imported and plastic-packaged produce.

Nut Trees, Olives, and Citrus: Carbon-Storing Orchards

Planting trees on cropland helps sequester carbon. The global area of tree nut plantations has doubled in the past 20 years, much of it replacing cropland. On average, every kilogram of nuts removes about 1.3 kg of CO₂ from the atmosphere. When trees are later used for durable wood products, their stored carbon can be preserved for even longer.

Regenerative Agriculture: Farming That Absorbs Carbon

Practices like no-till farming, cover cropping, and planting hedgerows increase soil carbon storage. Some companies claim their products are already carbon-negative due to these methods. For example, Wildfarmed, a British regenerative farming company, reports that each kilogram of wheat grown through its network removes 1.5 kg of CO₂. Similarly, London-based Gipsy Hill Brewery has certified its beer as carbon-negative through rigorous life-cycle assessments.

However, high-emission foods like beef remain difficult to make carbon-negative, even with regenerative methods. Studies show that while some grass-fed cattle systems absorb CO₂, they require vast amounts of land. If all beef farms used these systems, we’d need to convert an area the size of Africa into pastureland—an unsustainable trade-off.

The Case for Carbon Labels

Currently, identifying carbon-negative foods is challenging, but transparency is improving. Several carbon monitoring and labelling initiatives are emerging worldwide:

• New Zealand now requires farms to quantify their greenhouse gas emissions.
• France is planning a nationwide rollout of carbon labelling for food products.

Once these systems are fully in place and regulated, consumers will have a clearer understanding of their food’s climate impact.

Land-Sparing Diets: A More Scalable Climate Solution

While carbon-negative foods are promising, they may only make up a small part of our diets due to their limited availability. Another effective strategy is to reduce land-intensive foods—primarily meat and dairy—in favour of land-efficient plant-based options.

For example:

• Beef requires 100 square meters of land per 100g of protein.
• Beans and tofu require just 5 square meters for the same protein yield.

A major climate model analysis found that if everyone stopped eating animal products and permanently shifted to plant-based diets, we could restore 3.1 billion hectares of farmland to forests and grasslands—an area the size of the U.S., China, the EU, and Australia combined. This land regeneration would absorb 8 billion tonnes of CO₂ annually for a century, making our global food system carbon-negative.

The Future of Carbon-Negative Eating

Achieving a carbon-negative food system will require a multi-pronged approach, including:

• Wider adoption of carbon labelling to help consumers make informed choices.
• Scaling up carbon-negative food production like kelp, regenerative crops, and bacterial protein.
• Shifting diets toward land-efficient foods, which may be the most impactful change.

By making conscious food choices, we can move toward a future where eating not only sustains us—but also helps heal the planet.

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