Food for Thought Series:

The Food System and Environmental Impact

Food systems can positively or negatively impact the environment at every step.

How Does the Food System Impact the Environment?

In all food system sectors, certain types of activities and strategies have the potential to positively impact the environment or reduce negative environmental impact.

Strategies and practices that protect the natural environment and conserve resources for the benefit of current and future generations are referred to as “sustainable.”

Figure 2 illustrates various food system elements where the choice of strategy applied can impact the environment positively or negatively over time.

This resource highlights metrics on Food Production and Food Waste as a starting point for discussion. While county-level data for Food Processing and Distribution and Food Markets and Retail are unavailable, practices in these sectors also significantly impact the environment.

Transportation and packaging affect every stage of the food supply chain. Locally grown food transported within a small radius may have a smaller environmental footprint than food that travels long distances for processing and distribution. Using minimal or reusable packaging further reduces waste and lessens environmental harm compared to single-use packaging.

Food Production and Environmental Impact

Environmental factors such as rainfall, soil quality, and temperature interact closely with farming practices, shaping food production. While we cannot directly control these natural conditions, the farming methods and inputs we choose can influence them over time—affecting soil health, air quality, and even local temperature patterns. This dynamic interplay highlights how sustainable practices can positively impact both farming outcomes and the broader environment.

Sustainable practices like regenerative and organic farming and targeted fertilizer use can improve soil health, capture carbon, and support biodiversity. Unsustainable practices, such as excessive fertilizer and pesticide use, can pollute the environment and harm health.

Food Wasteⁱ and Environmental Impact

The way food waste is managed significantly affects its environmental impact. Food is the largest category of material in U.S. landfills, making up about 25% of municipal solid waste and contributing 58% of landfill methane emissions.² Residential and food service sectors (e.g., restaurants and schools) each generate 40% of food waste, with food retail accounting for the remaining 20%.³

Reducing food waste through actions like donation and composting can help mitigate its environmental harm. However, only 5% of food waste in the U.S. is currently composted, underscoring the need for broader adoption of sustainable waste management practices.²

ⁱ “Food waste” is often used as an overarching term for two different concepts and is used in that way in this resource: “food loss,” which happens during the production, processing, and distribution of food; and “food waste,” which happens when food that is fit for human consumption is thrown away, either before or after it spoils in its current site (e.g. retail location, consumer’s home, etc.).

Figure 2. Model exemplifying the relationship between some food system elements and their impact on environment

Top Crops in Central Texasⁱⁱ

Crop selection significantly impacts environmental sustainability. Selecting crops that are well-suited to the local environment and require fewer inputs can help mitigate these negative effects.

Food for Thought

What are the main crops in your region?

What impact do the crops currently grown in your area have on the environment?

Key Messages for Central Texas

Corn and cotton are the primary crops in Central Texas. Although they require relatively little water, their intensive cultivation practices often result in a large environmental footprint. Large quantities of pesticides and fertilizers are commonly used, contributing to water pollution and soil degradation. These crops are primarily grown for animal feed, fuel, and fiber, rather than for immediate food production.

Community Voices

Stakeholders interviewed for CNAs noted how the difficulties of farming in Central Texas can guide crop selection, especially for produce farmers who lack insurance options and need irrigation and season-extending infrastructure like shade cloth and hoop houses due to climate extremes.

“The variables in Central Texas are quite unique in the sense that we need the cooling wall in our greenhouse to keep the fall stuff cold so they can get started on time and then we need heat in the winter to get our spring stuff started on time. ... [In] Central Texas we kind of have that double whammy of needing the infrastructure on both ends.”
— Bastrop County stakeholder

ⁱⁱ Data Source: USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service Cropland Data Layer (2024).

Key Food System Metrics for Environmental Impact

Below is a snapshot of data on the Central Texas Food System Dashboard related to long-term environmental impacts.

Number of Organic Farmsⁱⁱⁱ

Variations in the number of organic farms over time can tell us about trends in the adoption of sustainable farming practices, which are linked to potential environmental benefits.

Food for Thought

What barriers do farmers and ranchers in your area face to obtaining organic certification or adopting other sustainable practices?

Why might organic farms be declining in Central Texas?

Key Messages for Central Texas

Only 0.9% of U.S. farms are certified organic and this figure is even lower in Central Texas (0.18%), comparable to the Texas rate (0.17%).²¹˒²² The number of organic farms in Central Texas dropped by nearly half from 2012-2022.

Several barriers hinder organic certification, such as the cost of certification, extensive documentation, and the three-year transition period (with increased expenses and labor but no organic premiums).

Community Voices

Stakeholders interviewed for CNAs stated that the small- and mid-sized farmers they work with often apply sustainable farming practices that go beyond organic standards.

“They’re not using pesticides, they’re not using growth hormones or everything else that they’re putting into plants to make them work on a huge commercial scale. If it’s being done by a small farm, they’re doing it with sweat, which isn’t necessarily healthy to consume. But it’s not bad for you. It’s not a carcinogen.”
— Hays County stakeholder

ⁱⁱⁱ Data Source: USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service, 2012, 2017, and 2022 Census of Agriculture. Percentage of organic farms calculated using total farms in Central Texas: 32,478 in 2022; 35,042 in 2017; and 34,273 in 2012. Conventional farmers transitioning to organic can market their products as “certified transitional” in the second year of the three-year process of transitioning. Farms with <$5,000 in gross annual organic sales are exempt from certification but can market their products as organic if they comply with USDA Organic standards.¹⁹˒²⁰

Food Pounds Rescued by Central Texas Food Bankⁱᵛ

Increased food recovery can help to reduce the amount of food sent to landfills. Decomposing food in landfills generates significant greenhouse gas emissions, particularly methane. Methane is a significant contributor to global warming itself, but it can also react with other atmospheric pollutants to form ground-level ozone, a harmful air pollutant that contributes to respiratory problems and damages crops and ecosystems. Therefore, recovering food is crucial for mitigating these negative environmental impacts.

Food for Thought

What do food recovery efforts look like in your region (e.g., which types of food and sources are most common)?

What are barriers to reducing food loss and waste in each food system sector in your region?

Key Messages for Central Texas

In 2024, Central Texas Food Bank prevented more than 24 million pounds of food from going to landfills. Produce was the most-rescued product type at 36%. Across Central Texas, 87% of food rescued comes from retail, indicating that there could be potential to rescue more food from other sources.

Community Voices

CNA stakeholders interviewed highlighted the challenges of preventing food loss at the farm level and the need for solutions to increase market access and food recovery efforts.

“It happens so quickly sometimes...it can be a week’s time where there’s this window where you have a glut of something, you don’t have the staff to harvest it. ... but if you had the labor out there to...pick it up and take it, it would make the farmer feel good and it would be not a waste.”
— Bastrop County stakeholder

ⁱᵛ Data Source: Central Texas Food Bank inventory data (October 1, 2023-September 30, 2024). Sourcing types are defined as follows: Retail: Sells food and groceries directly to consumers. Manufacturer: Combines, processes, or packages food for sale through a wholesale outlet. Distributor: Provides food in large quantities to retailers, restaurants, hotels, etc., providing food to consumers. Agriculture: Grows crops or raises animals to provide food. Hospitality: Serves food directly to consumers. “Other” includes items such as condiments, baby formula, and juice.

Sample Strategies from Food Plans to Promote Positive Environmental Impact

Below are a few sample strategies mentioned in food plans across the U.S. that address the issues outlined above and can be implemented at the local or regional levels. Strategies listed here do not represent an exhaustive list and are not intended to serve as recommendations—they can serve as a starting point to explore further.

Though many policies that have a large impact on the environment are implemented at the federal or state level, like the Farm Bill or policies around product grading and expiration dates, there are opportunities to collaborate on advocacy efforts to inform those policies and integrate food system planning into other regional planning efforts, such as climate, water, and land use documents, coordinating between rural and urban areas.⁴⁻⁷

Support farmers and ranchers in adopting or expanding conservation, sustainable, regenerative, and/or organic farming practices by providing tax benefits or other financial incentives, technical assistance, and assessing and addressing gaps in existing incentive and technical assistance programs.⁴˒⁵˒⁶˒⁸⁻¹⁵

Support food businesses with innovations in packaging and energy efficiency by exploring ways to reduce the use of single-use items and helping finance energy efficiency upgrades in cold storage and transportation.⁵˒⁸⁻¹¹˒¹⁶˒¹⁷

Expand capacity of food waste management infrastructure by exploring municipal composting feasibility, implementing food waste reduction mandates, and/or providing incentives for composting at the business and household levels.⁵⁻⁸˒¹³˒¹⁴

Learn More

Explore the Central Texas Food System Dashboard for more food system data, including county-level data, insights, and questions.

For a curated list of food system resources, visit our Resources page.

Questions or feedback? Contact research@centraltexasfoodbank.org.

Click here to download a printable PDF of “Food for Thought: The Food System and Environmental Impact” (coming soon!).

References

Last updated January 2025