Organic consumers have a more climate-friendly food consumption pattern than non-organic consumers

The analysed data overall show a clear correlation between the consumption of organic foods and climate footprint. Estimates of the climate footprint from the food purchases of 1800 Danish households showed that the most dedicated organic consumers had a carbon footprint that was one-third lower than consumers who rarely bought organic. Furthermore, we found that households with higher organic consumption, consumers with intentions to buy Danish products, and those who aimed to eat seasonally, as well as consumers who expressed concern about climate change, had a lower climate footprint from food consumption compared to other households.

The vast majority of consumers in the studies were aware that their actions affect the climate, but they did not necessarily link their climate footprint to food consumption. Only one in four respondents indicated that they tried to buy climate-friendly foods – mainly among the most loyal organic consumers. About half of the consumers said they would like to eat less beef (primarily loyal organic consumers). While across all consumers, the most popular choice was to substitute beef with chicken, among the loyal organic consumers, there was also a particular interest in increasing the intake of fish and vegetarian dishes.

About 60 percent of the surveyed consumers indicated that they would be willing to replace certain food items to reduce their climate footprint. Additionally, approximately one in ten consumers (up to a quarter in the group with the highest consumption of organic foods) said they would be willing to replace many food items.

An online experiment regarding consumers' willingness to choose a less climate-impacting meal showed that both providing information about the carbon footprint of individual meals and changing the default choice from beef to a plant-based patty could significantly lead more consumers to opt out of the beef patty.

Both organic and non-organic consumers associate climate, environment, circular economy, and animal welfare with sustainability

The questionnaire analyses showed that the vast majority of respondents did not only see the climate but also the environment and circular economy as important elements when defining a food product as sustainable – and nearly as many included animal welfare as an important part of sustainability. Our expectation that the strong focus on climate would lead many consumers to equate sustainability primarily with low climate impact was therefore not fulfilled.

Non-organic consumers view organic products in contrast to climate-friendliness

Results from focus groups showed that consumers had different perceptions of the climate-friendliness of organic foods. Among some consumers, organic products were described as being in contrast to climate-friendliness, with reasons given that organic food consumption focuses on the local environment but not the global climate.

Among other consumers, organic and climate were seen as connected. From this perspective, the climate-friendliness of foods was assessed within a holistic framework where animal welfare, biodiversity, the local environment, pollution, and climate were viewed as interconnected. This group, especially the dedicated organic consumers, believed it was too simplistic to equate climate-friendliness solely with carbon emissions.

Consumers primarily focus on food groups in relation to climate-friendliness

Results from the focus groups showed that consumers rarely mentioned organic products in connection with climate unless organic was the focal point of the discussions. Additionally, we found that when consumers freely discussed the climate-friendliness of foods, they primarily emphasised food groups. For example, meat, especially beef, was seen as highly climate-damaging, and there was general agreement that eating more vegetarian/vegan foods led to a reduced climate footprint.

Overall, consumers were thus aware that their actions impacted the climate, but they did not (sufficiently) connect this with their eating habits – and they were reluctant to make drastic changes to their consumption of animal products. A lack of knowledge and a lack of desire for knowledge were some of the barriers.

The significance of the results – Implementation in practice

The results of the project can be widely used in practice, as they indicate that many people associate organic products with both sustainable and climate-friendly production, and that organic products are therefore a credible tool in relation to the climate agenda, provided that organic production can meet consumers' expectations.

Moreover, the results of the project highlight what limits people from changing their eating habits toward a more climate-friendly diet, which should be taken into account in future action plans. Finally, the results point out that there are different perceptions of what is climate-friendly, and that a low carbon footprint is only one of several indicators of climate-friendly production.