FOODPRINT (ESTIMATION AND COMMUNICATION OF THE FOOD ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT)

Single discipline educational activity

Course Sheet

Academic Year of enrolment:

2022/2023

Type of Course:

Elective Course

Optional/Mandatory:

Optional

Degree:

Bachelor's Degree Programme in VITICULTURAL, OENOLOGICAL AND FOOD TECHNOLOGIES

Disciplinary Sector:

Animal Nutrition and Feeding

Language:

Italian

Credits:

Programme Year:

Professor and Collaborators:

ATZORI Alberto Stanislao

Obligatory attendance:

Yes

Minimum hours of attendance:

Hours of classroom activity:

Prerequisites:

The course is basic and any specific background is required.

AF code:

A001755

Assessment Methods

Verification of learning:

The assessment of the course will be carried out in two ways: a multiple choice test on the topics covered in class and a simple estimate of the environmental cost of a food, chosen by the student, using the life cycle analysis method and using a spreadsheet.

Teaching period

First semester

Objectives

Objectives of the course:
- to provide basic knowledge about the environmental aspects affecting agro-food production and the production context;
- to stimulate students to familiarize themselves with tools and quantification of the environmental cost of food with regard to carbon footprint, energy footprint, water footprint;
- provide the technical and regulatory bases that concern the communication to the consumer of the environmental cost of a product (or supply chain).

Contents

Environmental impact of anthropogenic activities: general principles and quantitative aspects.
- Environmental impact of the production sectors in the agri-food supply chains
- Principles of ecological footprint: from technical efficiency to environmental performance.
- Life cycle assessment (LCA): laboratory for the analysis of the life cycle of foods
o Carbon footprint: biological foundations
• Estimation of the food carbon footprint with the ISO \ TS 14067 standards
o Energy footprint: calculation of the energy footprint with the IPCC method.
o Water footprint and methodological paradigms
• calculations using the water footprint network (WFP) method, the standard IDF (water LCA) method and the net water footprint (netWFP) for the Mediterranean conditions.
- The Environmental Product Declaration, or EPD, for environmental certification and communication. Reference impacts (PEFCR and OEFCR).
o "Business to business" and "business to consumers" environmental communication.
- Social LCA.
- Overview of environmental impact reduction policies.

Recommended Bibliography

- Photocopies of slides used in class;
- Examples of spreadsheets for the LCA analysis of agri-food products

Methods of Provision

Conventional

Teaching Methods

Lectures and practices based on calculations and applications of LCA to agrofood products.

Contacts/More Information

Learning outcomes:
The course plans to cover the first 3 levels of the learning process (Bloom's Taxonomy) and in particular it expects that students at the end of the course have acquired:
- knowledge bases of environmental cost problems related to food production;
- ability to discuss the issues dealt with in relation to different production chains;
- ability to apply methods for calculating the ecological footprint of a food using the LCA method;

FOODPRINT (ESTIMATION AND COMMUNICATION OF THE FOOD ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT)

Course year: 1

Course year: 2

Course year: 3

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FOODPRINT (ESTIMATION AND COMMUNICATION OF THE FOOD ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT)