When you think of the Mediterranean diet and other diets in general, you tend to think of the health impacts on those that eat it. One thing that does not always come to mind is how specific diet choices affect the environment. In this time of climate change, understanding how diet choices impact the environment, and in particular carbon emissions or “carbon footprints”, is just as important as how it affects us as individuals.

A new study in the Journal of Health Services Research & Policy

aimed to evaluate the carbon footprints of various diets in the setting of a Spanish hospital, in a preliminary attempt to possibly provide menu change recommendations in other industries.

Diet data was collected from Juan Ramón Jiménez Hospital in Huelva, Spain. In addition to the typical diet found at this hospital (one weeks’ worth in the winter), information on 17 other therapeutic diets published by Benidorm Clinical Hospital was used for this analysis.

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