Advancing Biodiversity Footprinting for Food-Related Behavior Change

Our food production, distribution, and consumption threaten biodiversity. Thus, we need to promote biodiversity conservation along the food supply chain. We expanded the existing methodology for assessing crops’ biodiversity impact on other food products and calculated the biodiversity footprints of 51 frequently consumed foods in Switzerland. We find that biodiversity loss is predominantly caused by a few hedonic and animal-based products (e.g., coffee, beef). Discussing various intervention strategies demonstrates that consumers, retailers, and producers all play a pivotal role in biodiversity conservation. This research provides practical and non-technical information on biodiversity quantification, suggests a concrete research agenda, and thereby enables behavioral scientists as well as practitioners in the food sector to identify effective strategies for more biodiversity-friendly food supply chains.