To reduce greenhouse gases, there’s a move to focus in on the total energy used in food production and its affect on the atmosphere. According to a front-page Los Angeles Times article published today, about a third of greenhouse gas emissions linked to global warming come from the ingredients and energy used in food production. Scientists have also tallied a carbon footprint from raw materials to leftovers sent to the landfill.

The Los Angeles Times story outlined the life cycle of cheese in this way:

1. Factories emit carbon dioxide when they make nitrogen fertilizer for the fields.
2. When excess fertilizer is applied to the fields, it escapes into the atmosphere as nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas with 296 times the warming potential of carbon dioxide.
3. When corn is harvested to use as feed for cows, it’s harvested, processed, trucked, and stored by carbon dioxide-emitting equipment.
4. At the dairy, a cow annual belches 145 pounds of methane, which has 23 times the warming potential of carbon dioxide. Milk from the dairy is processed and pasteurized using heat, then trucked to the cheese factory.
5. At the cheese processing plant, refrigeration, production, and packaging use equipment that consumes large amounts of power. Many cheeses are wrapped in petroleum-based wrappers or containers.
6. Pallets of cheese have to be trucked or flown to temperature-controlled warehouses, where they are trucked to supermarkets
7. Cheese is set out on display for purchase in open cases that require extra power to keep cool.
8. Consumers drive to the supermarket to do their grocery shopping, which leaves a carbon footprint as well. Energy used to cook a grilled cheese sandwich, for instance, uses more energy as well.
9. Half-eaten grilled cheese sandwiches and spoiled cheese is carted off the landfill, where it generates methane gas and carbon dioxide. An estimated one-fourth of our food gets tossed in the trash or spoils in the refrigerator.

And that’s just the carbon footprint for simple cheese. Since we all eat dozens of different foods each month, beyond the questions of “Is this good for me to eat?” or “Will I get fat eating this?”, there’s another question to consider: “Is what I’m eating good for the planet?” It’s an intriguing question for those of us concerned about energy savings. Now we have something more to think about than changing to fluorescent lightbulbs or driving a Prius.

We can all do our little bit to not waste food so that leftovers don’t get tossed in the trash. Buying food locally from farmer’s markets cuts down on trucking and transportation. Reducing the amount of beef and cheese we eat is a carbon-conscious decision.

Bon Appetit Management Co. has rolled out its new “Low Carbon Diet” at 400 cafes it runs at university and corporate campuses around the country. The company, which makes more than 80 million meals a year, is trying to slim down the company’s greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent by cutting back on the purchases of out-of-season produce flown in from Chile and other Latin America countries as well as imported bottle water like San Pellegrino or Perrier.

If you want to check out more the Low Carbon Diet or calculate the carbon emissions created by your meals, go to www.eatlowcarbon.org.