CleanMetrics' new food carbon calculator is not without its shortcomings, but it's a big step in the right direction toward calculating your food carbon footprint.

If you’ve ever used online carbon calculators, you know they’re not exact. There are simply too many variables in all our lives to account for everything that’s contributing to our carbon footprint.

Chief among the weaknesses in carbon calculations is food, but CleanMetrics’ new carbon calculator for food emissions is looking to make a difference. And to a certain extent, it does.

As reported by Treehugger, CleanMetrics’ Food Carbon Emissions Calculator comes through where other carbon calculators fall short.

First of all, it breaks food down by category, specifically beans, dairy, fish, shellfish, fruits, grains, meat, poultry, nuts, oils, fats and vegetables.

Once you’ve entered the category of food, and selected the specific food itself, the calculator asks for transport distance, how much you purchased and how much waste it creates. (The production region is defaulted to North America).

This information generates three separate carbon scores:

1. Food production footprint
2. Food transport footprint
3. Food waste footprint

But the CleanMetrics calculator fails to live up to Treehugger’s headline. It does not, in fact, calculate “your diet’s true footprint.” At least not if you eat ANY organic food.

As stated on its website, the CleanMetrics food emissions calculator only assesses the carbon footprint of conventionally-grown food. That seems a glaring error as those most interested in calculating our footprint in the first place are probably those for whom eating organic is a priority.

Also, 95 percent of the agricultural food included in the calculator is limited to North American sources only. Granted, we should all be buying as close to home as possible, but most of us buy at least some food shipped in from overseas.

Bottom line – CleanMetrics is on the right track. Expand the calculator to include organic food and food shipped in from overseas, and it’s darn-near perfect.

Give the CleanMetrics calculator a try and let us know what you think. As you’ll see, it’s refreshingly specific about calculating your carbon emissions for specific items, but if you’re looking for a total of food emissions, you’ll have to add that up yourself. And remember, if you’re eating organic, your scores are lower than those reported, though it’s not clear by how much.

You may also want to try some other carbon calculators. If you have a favorite not on our list, please let us know.

Meredith Simonds Carbon Footprint carbon calculator, carbon calculators, carbon emissions, carbon footprint, CleanMetrics, food carbon emissions, food carbon emissions calculator, organic food, transportation, waste, weight