April 25, 2014 — Twelve straightforward strategies could slash food-related greenhouse gas emissions 50 to 90 percent, says a report just released by Climate Focus and California Environmental Associates.

According to the report, which was commissioned by the Climate and Land Use Alliance, actions such as eating less beef, reducing food waste and better managing nutrients on farms could reduce global emissions by up to 5 billion metric tons per year by 2030 — equivalent to the emissions of the entire world’s fleet of cars — while boosting production and food system resilience. Specific recommendations range from improving catering portion control in China to changing the feed regimen for beef cows in Brazil. The report calls out China, the European Union, India, the United States, Southeast Asia, Brazil and sub-Saharan Africa as having the greatest opportunity to reduce agriculture’s climate footprint. Learn more at Strategies for Mitigating Climate Change in Agriculture. Photo by Vilseskogen (Flickr | Creative Commons).