Common Foods Ranked By Carbon Footprint, From Highest To Lowest

[Princess Kae-Leah]

Common Foods Ranked By Carbon Footprint, From Highest To Lowest, With kg of CO2 emissions per kg of food consumed)
(1) Shrimp(270)
(2) Lamb(39.2)
(3) Beef(27)
(4) Cheese(13.5)
(5) Pork(12.1)
(6) Farmed Salmon(11.9)
(7) Turkey(10.9)
(8) Chicken(6.9)
(9) Canned Tuna(6.1)*
(10) Eggs(4.8)
(11) Potatoes(2.9)
(12) Rice(2.7)
(13) Nuts(2.3)
(14) Yogurt(2.3)
(15) Broccoli(2.0)
(16) Tofu(2.0)
(17) Dry Beans(2.0)
(18) Milk(1.9)
(19) Tomatoes(1.1)
(20) Lentils(0.9)

Sources:
Environmental Working Group
Mother Jones

*Please note that while canned tuna may have a fairly low carbon footprint compared to some other animal proteins, it's still overall a very poor food choice for the planet due to the extremely high bycatch rate of the tuna fishing industry. Every year countless turtles, sea birds, marine mammals, sharks, rays, and other non-target animals, many of them endangered species are killed "accidentally" by the tuna industry.

Calculate your diet's carbon footprint by estimating how many kg of each of these foods you eat in a typical week and adding up the amount of emissions.
1,000+-Extremely High Dietary Carbon Footprint
500-999-High Dietary Carbon Footprint
100-499-Moderate Dietary Carbon Footprint
21-100-Low Dietary Carbon Footprint
20 Or Less-Extremely Low Dietary Carbon Footprint

Assuming I added it up correctly and accurately, my dietary carbon footprint is 43.4, or in the Low range

[MerShellly]

What does it mean by a carbon footprint? What does it do? Mine looks pretty high which doesn't sound too good :P

[AniaR]

how much carbon it put into the air by the processing of it.

[Princess Kae-Leah]

Something else that helps lower your carbon footprint is buying local instead of foreign produce. I refuse to buy grapes for example from Chile or Mexico when California grows grapes that are not only taste better IMO than foreign grapes but are geographically closer to my home in WA so less fuel used to transport them. I try to buy only American fruits and veggies, preferably from the West Coast.

Trying to buy American-made goods can be very difficult since so many products are made in overseas sweatshops. I donate to Toys For Tots, so I'm ashamed to admit most of the toys I buy to donate for the charity are made in Chinese sweatshops, as inexpensive American-made toys are extremely rare. So I get excited when I find stuff like clothes at least made in the Americas. For example I have a Mickey Mouse T-shirt labeled "Made In Mexico", not ideal as its still a foreign sweatshop but it's gotta be less fuel to transport it from Mexico than from China or the Middle East. The Disney Store sells clothes made of organic cotton and made in Latin America.

[Princess Kae-Leah]

Here's an updated version(source: Greeneatz) that is easier to understand, I think, and calculate, comparing the footprint to car miles. Calculate how many kilograms you eat each type of food in a typical week.
(1) Shrimp-630 Car Miles
(2) Lamb-91 Car Miles
(3) Beef-63 Car Miles
(4) Cheese-31 Car Miles
(5) Pork-28 Car Miles
(6) Turkey-25 Car Miles
(7) Chicken-16 Car Miles
(8) Tuna-14 Car Miles
(9) Eggs-11 Car Miles
(10) Potatoes-7 Car Miles
(11) Rice-6 Car Miles
(12) Nuts-5 Car Miles
(13) Beans/Tofu-4.5 Car Miles
(14) Vegetables-4.5 Car Miles
(15) Milk-4 Car Miles
(16) Fruit-2.5 Car Miles
(17) Lentils-2 Car Miles

I got 105.5 car miles