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Water Footprint of Food Quality Schemes

  • Antonio Bodini ORCID logo EMAIL logo , Sara Chiussi , Michele Donati ORCID logo , Valentin Bellassen ORCID logo , Áron Török , Lisbeth Dries , Dubravka Sinčić Ćorić , Lisa Gauvrit , Efthimia Tsakiridou , Edward Majewski , Bojan Ristic , Zaklina Stojanovic , Jose Maria Gil Roig , Apichaya Lilavanichakul , Nguyễn Quỳnh An and Filippo Arfini
Published/Copyright: November 17, 2020

Abstract

Water Footprint (WF, henceforth) is an indicator of water consumption and has taken ground to assess the impact of agricultural production processes over freshwater. The focus of this study was contrasting non-conventional, certified products with identical products obtained through conventional production schemes (REF, henceforth) using WF as a measure of their pressure on water resources. The aim was to the show whether products that are certified as Food Quality Schemes (FQS, henceforth) could also incorporate the lower impact on water among their quality features. To perform this comparison, we analysed 23 products selected among Organic, PDO and PGI as FQS, and their conventional counterparts. By restricting the domain of analysis to the on-farm phase of the production chain, we obtained that that no significant differences emerged between the FQS and REF products. However, if the impact is measured per unit area rather than per unit product, FQS showed a significant reduction in water demand.


Corresponding author: Antonio Bodini, Department of Chemistry, Life Sciences and Environmental Sustainability, University of Parma, Parma, Italy, E-mail:

Funding source: European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 678024

Appendix

List of the Food Quality Schemes and their Reference counterparts within Organic, PDO, PGI.

Organic

Case studied (FQS)CountryReference product (REF)
Organic flourFranceNational average
Camargue riceFranceNon-organic rice (mostly PGI)
Organic porkGermanyNational average
Organic yoghurtGermanyNational average
Organic tomato from Emilia Romagna RegionItalyConventional processed tomatoes in the same region (Emilia-Romagna)
Organic pastaPolandSimulated conventional farms with sample characteristics
Organic raspberriesSerbiaNational average

PDO

Case studiedCountryReference product
PDO olive oilCroatiaNational average
Comte cheeseFranceNational average (cow cheese)
Zagora appleGreeceKissavos apples (non-GI apples from another region)
Kalocsai paprika powderHungaryImported Chinese pepper milled in Hungary
Parmigiano Reggiano cheeseItalyBiraghi cheese (similar non-PDO cheese)
Opperdoezer Ronde potatoNetherlandsRegular potato in neighbouring IJsselmeerpolders region

PGI

Case studiedCountryReference product
Dalmatian hamCroatiaLocal non-PGI firm
Kastoria appleGreeceKissavos apples (non-GI apples from another region)
Gyulai sausageHungaryNon-PGI Hungarian sausage
Kaszubska strawberriesPolandNational average
Sjenica cheeseSerbiaNational average (cow cheese)
Sobrasada of mallorcaSpainNational average
Ternasco de AragonSpainNon-PGI lamb in the same region (Aragon)
Thung Kula Rong-Hai (TKR) Hom Mali riceThailandNon certified rice from the same region (90% of GI rice is organic as well)
Doi Chaang coffeeThailandNon-PGI coffee from the same province
Buon Ma Thuot coffeeVietnamNon-PGI coffee from Dak-Lak province in Vietnam
Table A1:

Values for green, blue and grey WI for the 23 selected FQs products and their REF counterparts.

WIOrganicPDOPGI
Org. riceREFDiff. REF-FQSOlive oilREFDiff. REF-FQSBuon Ma ToutREFDiff. REF-FQS
WI green1300130002872.242873.71.46654665460
WI blue6762.817128.95366.14139.81146.776.961758.941984.55225.61
WI grey393.671181.01787.34689.08837147.922321.82582.32260.52
Org. pastaREFKalocsaiREFDoi ChaangREF
WI green1685.991688.612.6224414837.52396.5441744170
WI blue2.6910.487.791296.951290.83−6.12566.91433.575−133.335
WI grey186.01604.23418.221130.6230151884.382312.8100151869.9315−442.87851
Org. porkREFParmigianoREFHorn MaliREF
WI green10194.98615263.2755068.2896330.077819.451489.385388.20315390.66222.4591
WI blue15.2441118.5811103.3379464.0215186.855722.830.19673.78843.5917
WI grey3448.5325169.7791721.247997.672245.11247.4334.4225253.9614219.5389
Org. yoghurtREFComtéREFKastoriaREF
WI green23294.3723107.91−186.468261.4316739.4384785108.013405.01−1703
WI blue44.191117.161072.97342.22523.58181.3681.96129.2247.26
WI grey5788.867200.421411.562750.884284.491533.61153.25275.56122.31
Org. tomatoREFOpperdoezerREFDalmatianREF
WI green19631963021561855.5−300.59957.8711068.361110.49
WI blue2410.772466.4655.69297.5496.61199.11437.1410.95−26.15
WI grey1377.841574.68196.841141.641965.55823.912656.122174.29−481.83
Org. flourREFZagoraREFGyulaiREF
WI green2146.97216215.0361666165.99−0.012.082.080
WI blue38.65275.14236.4977.9152.7174.8111479.3111481.392.08
WI grey781.871266.04484.1791.33275.56184.2316123.5116123.510
Org. raspberriesREFProc NegreREF
WI green4314.874314.90.035598.7297427.6451828.916
WI blue13.66842.46828.82191.9653247.8151055.85
WI grey960.66960.45−0.218676.4343580.555−5095.879
TernascoREF
WI green12378.6712378.670
WI blue11622.5411622.540
WI grey3908.273908.270
SjenicaREF
WI green8711.2815807.987096.7
WI blue2130.043376.371246.33
WI grey2130.043354.81224.76
KaszubskaREF
WI green3825385227
WI blue261.54353.9792.43
WI grey639.32651.9212.6
Table A2:

Values for green, blue and grey WF for the 23 selected FQs products and their REF counterparts.

WFOrganicPDOPGI
Org. riceREFDiff. REF-FQSOlive oilREFDiff. REF-FQSBuon Ma ToutREFDiff. REF-FQS
WF green0.480.39−0.098.9219.6410.723.403.38−0.02
WF blue2.502.12−0.380.431.000.570.961.100.14
WF grey0.150.350.212.145.723.581.211.330.12
Org. pastaREFKalocsaiREFDoi ChaangREF
WF green1.580.76−0.820.931.510.5818.0413.80−4.24
WF blue0.000.000.000.500.40−0.102.321.35−0.96
WF grey0.170.270.100.430.940.519.455.84−3.60
Org. porkREFParmigianoREFHorn MaliREF
WF green19.5611.25−8.314.332.98−1.354.265.561.30
WF blue0.070.690.627.345.84−1.500.000.010.00
WF grey6.222.86−3.360.510.770.260.010.260.26
Org. yoghurtREFComté cheeseREFKastoriaREF
WF green1.000.62−0.386.977.230.261.190.97−0.22
WF blue0.010.030.010.270.320.060.020.040.02
WF grey0.110.120.001.321.29−0.030.040.080.04
Org. tomatoREFOpperdoezerREFDalmatianREF
WF green0.060.05−0.010.090.04−0.0574.2368.57−5.67
WF blue2.576.724.150.010.010.002.892.74−0.16
WF grey0.040.040.000.050.04−0.0114.4312.97−1.46
Org. flourREFZagoraREFGyulaiREF
WF green0.630.34−0.304.571.76−2.8155.2148.75−6.47
WF blue0.010.040.030.060.04−0.011.481.31−0.17
WF grey0.230.20−0.030.070.080.017.356.49−0.86
Org. raspberriesREFProc NegreREF
WF green1.600.76−0.844.175.431.26
WF blue0.020.150.131.612.651.04
WF grey0.360.17−0.191.782.821.04
Ternasco
WF green47.5141.57−5.94
WF blue32.0428.04−4.00
WF grey11.7510.28−1.47
SjenicaREF
WF green2.014.252.24
WF blue0.030.210.18
WF grey0.120.550.43
Kaszubska
WF green0.430.35−0.08
WF blue0.030.030.00
WF grey0.070.06−0.01

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Received: 2019-09-24
Accepted: 2020-10-30
Published Online: 2020-11-17

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