What stages do the default food factors include?

The Poore and Nemecek global-average factors used here cover agricultural inputs and production, land-use change, processing, packaging, transport, and losses through retail. They do not include cooking or consumer waste.

Should I enter cooked or uncooked ingredient weights?

Use the weight that matches the factor's product basis. The presets represent kilograms of the named food product in the source dataset, generally at the retail-product boundary. For a specific cooked product, use a matching supplier or life-cycle factor if available.

Can I enter my own carbon factor?

Yes. Choose Custom ingredient or edit any row's factor. Use kilograms CO2-equivalent per kilogram of product and retain the source and boundary with exported results.

Does this include nutrition or tell me what to eat?

No. It compares greenhouse gas emissions by product weight only. It does not assess calories, protein, nutrients, health needs, affordability, culture, animal welfare, water use, or land use.

Food Carbon Footprint Calculator by Meal and Ingredient

Build a recipe or meal from ingredient weights, estimate its farm-to-retail greenhouse gas footprint, and see which ingredient contributes most. Everything runs in your browser; ingredient inputs are not sent or tracked.

What this estimate means

Results are screening estimates, not product labels. Presets use global-average life-cycle factors per kilogram of product. They cover production through retail, but exclude home or restaurant cooking, refrigeration after purchase, consumer travel, and consumer food waste. Use a verified supplier-specific factor when accuracy matters.

Meal and ingredients

Meal or recipe name Servings madeThe ingredient list is divided by this number. Servings eaten per weekOptional; used only for weekly and annual estimates. Result mass unitChanges the display, not the calculation.

Add an ingredient presetFactors remain editable after adding.

Estimated result

Carbon footprint per serving — Enter valid ingredients to calculate.

Last updatedAugust 3, 2026

Core methodIngredient kg × kg CO₂e per kg product

Default datasetPoore & Nemecek (2018), global means

BoundaryAgricultural inputs through retail

PrivacyNo server upload or input tracking

How the food footprint calculation works

Each ingredient is converted to kilograms and multiplied by its emissions intensity. The calculator adds ingredient results for the full recipe, then divides by servings. Weekly and annual values multiply the per-serving result by the frequency you enter.

Ingredient mass (kg) = entered amount × unit conversion Ingredient footprint (kg CO₂e) = ingredient mass (kg) × factor (kg CO₂e/kg product) Meal footprint = sum of all ingredient footprints Per-serving footprint = meal footprint ÷ servings made Annual footprint = per-serving footprint × servings/week × 52.1429

Do not add a separate transport allowance to the presets: their source boundary already includes transport to retail. Add post-retail cooking or delivery only with a compatible, separately documented factor.

Reading and improving the estimate

Use recipe weights

Enter the quantity of each food represented by the source product. Avoid entering the whole finished meal weight as every ingredient.

Check the boundary

A factor for farm-gate production is not interchangeable with a factor through retail or consumption. Keep the same boundary when comparing options.

Prefer specific evidence

A product environmental declaration, verified supplier life-cycle assessment, or regional dataset can replace a global mean when its unit and scope match.

Expect variation

Production system, yields, land-use change, geography, processing, and allocation methods can substantially change results for the same food category.

Data source, boundary, and limitations

Preset factors are the global mean greenhouse gas emissions per kilogram of food product from Poore and Nemecek (2018), processed by Our World in Data. The underlying meta-analysis harmonized 570 studies covering about 38,700 farms in 119 countries. The dataset's median reference year was 2010, so these values are a consistent comparison baseline rather than current supplier measurements.

The FAO/WHO GIFT methodology describes the same boundary as resource extraction for agricultural inputs through production, processing, packaging, transport, and losses to retail. Cooking and consumer losses are excluded. CO₂e combines greenhouse gases using global-warming potentials; it is not simply the mass of carbon dioxide emitted.

Weight is only one comparison basis and does not represent nutritional function. This tool does not assess dietary quality, calories, protein, micronutrients, health requirements, price, water stress, land use, biodiversity, or animal welfare. It is unsuitable for regulated inventories, environmental product declarations, or unqualified marketing claims.

Food carbon footprint FAQs

How is a meal's carbon footprint calculated?

Each ingredient weight is converted to kilograms and multiplied by its kg CO₂e/kg factor. The calculator adds the ingredient results and divides the recipe total by its servings.

What stages do the default factors include?

They cover inputs and agricultural production, land-use change, processing, packaging, transport, and losses through retail. They exclude cooking and consumer waste.

Are these exact emissions for my food?

No. Presets are global means. Real products vary with place, production method, yield, processing, and supply chain.

Should I enter cooked or uncooked weights?

Use the product weight matching your factor. The presets correspond to named products at the source dataset's retail-product boundary. Use a more specific factor for a particular cooked or branded product.

Can I enter my own factor?

Yes. Edit the factor in any row or add a custom row. Enter kg CO₂e per kg product and record its source and boundary.

Does this tell me what I should eat?

No. It estimates one environmental indicator by product weight and is not nutritional or medical guidance.