Author Interviews, Environmental Risks, Nutrition, Race/Ethnic Diversity / 04.06.2019
Food Food Spending by Lower Economic Groups Has Greater Environmental Impact
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Joe F. Bozeman III, MS, CEM, Ph.D. Candidate
Chair, Gordon Research Seminar (Industrial Ecology)
University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC)
Institute for Environmental Science and Policy
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: This study is actually a part of my dissertation which explores how climate change, human health, and other socioecological factors can be used to manage food-energy-water impacts. After establishing environmental impact and climate change adaptation implications of food consumption across major U.S. demographic groups in a previous study, my colleagues and I decided it would be interesting to investigate how food spending and household income correlate with food-consumption environmental impacts. Our efforts led to the development of a novel quantitative metric (i.e., food-consumption impact per dollar spent [FCI$]) which encompasses land, water, and greenhouse gas emission impacts of basic foods; the amount spent on food; and socioeconomic status. All major food groups are included in this study.
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