The Environmental Impact of Kiwis: From Farm to Table
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Kiwis are a delicious tropical fruit. In popular culture, they are most associated with the nation of New Zealand and their birds of the same name. They are a lucrative industry too, with the global kiwi market worth almost $7 billion as of 2019. Moreover, they pack in a significant amount of fiber and vitamin C. However, kiwis can have a negative impact on the environment through their growing, manufacturing, transportation, and waste disposal practices. So we had to ask: What is the environmental impact of kiwis?
Kiwis have a minimal negative impact on the environment. They have low water requirements, pesticide use, and packaging. However, they grow in monocultures, come from New Zealand so they have long transportation times to the US, and they generate significant organic waste.
In this article, we will examine the environmental impact of kiwis from several different angles. We will go through the life-cycle of kiwis, detailing its impact on the environment from growth to distribution to your plate to waste management. We will then compare the environmental impact of kiwis to that of other fruits. And, finally, we’ll share some tips with you on how you can reduce your own environmental impact and offset your own carbon emissions – both for your personal life and kiwi-related.
Here’s How We Assessed the Environmental Impact of Kiwis
The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is one of the ways we measure the potential environmental effects of our actions, like the consumption of kiwis. It is a holistic assessment based on the environmental changes associated with our consumption. Those are changes in our environment that can have adverse effects on the air, land, water, fish, and wildlife or the inhabitants of the ecosystem.
“Environmental Impact: the effect that the activities of people and businesses have on the environment”
Cambridge Dictionary
Basically, all goods and services you buy – including kiwis – leave an impact on our environment. When it comes to food in general, and kiwis in specific, the following are key factors:
- Land requirements: Large parts of the world that were once covered by forests and wildlands are now used for agriculture. 10 million hectares of forest are destroyed annually and 50% of the world’s habitable land is now used for agriculture. This loss of natural habitat has been the main driver for reducing the world’s biodiversity.
- Water footprint: 70% of global freshwater is now used for agricultural purposes. By assessing the water footprint of a particular food, we can determine how our limited freshwater resources are being consumed and polluted.
- Pesticide and fertilizer usage: Pesticides and fertilizers provide a range of agricultural benefits. However, numerous studies link pesticides and fertilizers to serious effects on human health, along with disruptions to vital ecosystems and the spread of aquatic dead zones.
- Carbon footprint: The carbon footprint is one of the ways we measure the effects of our human-induced global climate change. Today, food production accounts for over a quarter (26%) of global greenhouse gas emissions.
- Waste generation: Food and its packaging account for almost 45% of the materials landfilled in the US alone. And packaging sent to landfills, especially when made from plastics, does not degrade quickly or, in some cases, at all.
To understand the overall environmental impact of kiwis, we must assess each of their key factors. This Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is a tool originally developed to identify the environmental impacts of a project prior to decision-making and also helps us to evaluate the environmental impacts of kiwis, from farm to table.
Here’s the Overall Environmental Impact of Kiwis
The overall environmental impact of kiwis is minimally negative. This is because they don’t require too many resources to produce, including water and pesticides. This is true even though they have high organic waste generation, are transported from New Zealand, and grow in monocultures.
Kiwis generally have a small negative impact on the environment because they don’t require significant irrigation, and they don’t use a lot of packaging. However, there are still many aspects of their production that have a negative impact on the environment.
So, let’s have a look at the environmental impact of each key factor of kiwis!
Key Assessment Factors | Environmental Impact |
Land requirements for kiwis | Kiwis’ land requirements are average amongst fruits. However, kiwi farming has become more popular in recent years which has caused damaging habitat loss. Furthermore, the use of monocultures negatively affects soil quality and surrounding wildlife. |
Water footprint of kiwis | Kiwis have a relatively low negative impact on the environment in terms of their water footprint. This is because they have a low water requirement of 35 inches of water per year which is covered by natural rainfall in New Zealand. |
Agrochemical usage for kiwis | Kiwis pesticide usage is low and their fertilizer usage is minimally harmful. This means that their environmental impact is very small at this stage. |
Carbon footprint of kiwis | The carbon footprint of kiwis is high at 0.56kg (1.24lb) of CO2e per pound of kiwis. This is mainly because they are transported from New Zealand in refrigerated trucks, have long growth durations, use mechanized processing, and suffer from low composting rates. |
Waste generation of kiwis | Kiwis are delicate so they use a wide variety of packaging materials which often end up in landfill. They also have high organic waste generation. All of this has a significantly negative impact on the environment. |
These are the overall summaries, but there is a lot more to the story. In the next few sections, we will dive deeper into each stage to illustrate all the important aspects of kiwis’ environmental impact.
What Are the Land Requirements for Kiwis
Kiwis’ land requirements are average amongst fruits. However, kiwi farming has become more popular in recent years which has caused damaging habitat loss. Furthermore, the use of monocultures negatively affects soil quality and surrounding wildlife.
Growing kiwis has a lot of variables that contribute to their environmental impact. The amount of land they use, the way in which they grow, and the amount of time they take to grow will all contribute to their environmental impact.
How do the land requirements of kiwis impact their environmental footprint?
- What is the land usage of kiwis: Kiwis yield around 25 tons per hectare. This is fairly average amongst fruits, with watermelons yielding around 2–3 tons per hectare and bananas up to 100 tons per hectare. The land usage of kiwis therefore has a fairly negative impact on the environment.
- Where and how are kiwis grown: Kiwis grow on climbing vines. These vines have carbon sequestering properties which means that some of their environmental impact is offset. Over 90% of kiwis in the world are grown in New Zealand. However, kiwis are also mainly grown in monocultures. Monocultures are harmful to the environment as they reduce biodiversity and can harm soil microbes. Therefore, though some of their environmental impact is offset, kiwis’ use of monocultures means that their environmental impact is moderately negative at this stage.
- How does the kiwi industry affect the loss of habitable land: Kiwis take up a considerable amount of space on the island of New Zealand. According to a 2020 report, 15,500 hectares of land were being used for kiwi farming. This has grown over the years, meaning that land clearance is ongoing.
- How does the kiwi industry affect wildlife and biodiversity: Many species in New Zealand are endangered, including sea birds, that can be affected by deforestation and water pollution. One of the threatened species is—ironically—the kiwi bird itself, with deforestation-related habitat loss harming their populations. Kiwi populations are halving every 10 years in unmanaged and heavily farmed areas.
In short, the use of monocultures, as well as longer growth times and average land yields mean that kiwis’ environmental impact at this stage is moderately negative.
What Is the Water Footprint of Kiwis
Kiwis have a relatively low negative impact on the environment in terms of their water footprint. This is because they have a low water requirement of 35 inches of water per year which is covered by natural rainfall in New Zealand.
Kiwis have a moderate water footprint. Water usage is one of the most important factors in the environmental impact of a fruit. The amount of water used, as well as the way they affect the water sources around them, are all major contributing factors. Here, we will look at these different aspects of the kiwis’ water impact.
How does the water footprint of kiwis impact their environmental footprint?
- What is the overall water usage of kiwis: Kiwis need about 35 inches of water per year. This is equivalent to around 35 gallons of water per year per plant. This is actually a lower than average water requirement amongst fruits. For example, avocados need around an inch of water a week.
- What is the green water footprint of kiwis: The green water footprint is the amount of water from precipitation stored in the soil and used by plants for growth. Most kiwis consumed in the US are grown in New Zealand. New Zealand gets around 40 inches of rain per year. This means that New Zealand-grown kiwis will get most or all of their water needs from rain.
- What is the blue water footprint of kiwis: The blue water footprint is the amount of water sourced from surface (such as rivers or lakes) or groundwater resources. Kiwis’ 35 inch per year water requirement is typically covered by the 40 inches of rain New Zealand receives per year. Therefore, kiwis don’t require significant irrigation and have a low blue water footprint.
- What is the gray water footprint of kiwis: The gray water footprint is the amount of freshwater required to clean up water pollution to meet certain quality standards. Essentially, it’s the amount of water needed to make polluted water clean enough to be safe and healthy for humans and the environment. Kiwis have very low pesticide use. In fact, they have been included on lists of foods which use the least amount of pesticides. Therefore, less water will be needed to clean up pesticide pollution, lowering their gray water footprint.
- How does the kiwi industry affect freshwater and ocean pollution: Some minor pesticide use might affect kiwis’ groundwater. However, there are still efforts being made to help lower kiwis’ water footprint. Māori farmers in particular have made commitments to growing kiwi with minimal effect on water sources.
In short, the fact that kiwis use very minimal irrigation and have low pesticide rates means their impact on the environment is very low at this stage.
What Is the Agrochemical Usage for Kiwis
Kiwis pesticide usage is low and their fertilizer usage is minimally harmful. This means that their environmental impact is very small at this stage.
Pesticides and fertilizers can have a significant impact on the environment. They both require resources to create as well as have effects on the life around them. Here, we will look at how kiwis’ pesticide and fertilizer rates impact the environment.
How does the pesticide and fertilizer usage of kiwis impact their environmental footprint?
- What is the pesticide usage of kiwis: Kiwis have some of the lowest pesticide rates among foods. In a 2018 study, 65% of kiwis tested had no pesticide residue on their skin. Pesticides do some serious environmental damage, such as harming groundwater and wildlife. The fact that kiwis use them sparingly means their environmental impact is very minimal at this stage.
- What is the fertilizer usage of kiwis: Kiwis are typically fertilized with potassium. Potassium actually has very minimal negative environmental effects. Therefore, kiwis don’t have a significant negative environmental impact at this stage.
- Are there any known issues connected to the agrochemical usage for kiwis: Since kiwis use few pesticides and less harmful fertilizers, there aren’t a large amount of issues associated with them.
In short, kiwis’ minimal use of pesticides, as well as their use of less harmful fertilizers, means that their environmental impact is very minimally negative at this stage.
What Is the Carbon Footprint of Kiwis
The carbon footprint of kiwis is high at 0.56kg (1.24lb) of CO2e per pound of kiwis. This is mainly because they are transported from New Zealand in refrigerated trucks, have long growth durations, use mechanized processing, and suffer from low composting rates.
Carbon footprint is one aspect of the overall environmental impact of a fruit. It essentially measures how much carbon or other greenhouse gasses the production of kiwis emits into the atmosphere. Emissions from product manufacturing, irrigation, transportation fuel, and landfills all add up to create the overall carbon footprint of a fruit. Let’s see how the carbon footprint of kiwis breaks down and contributes to their environmental impact.
How does the carbon footprint of kiwis impact their environmental footprint?
- What is the overall carbon footprint of kiwis: The overall carbon footprint of kiwis is 0.56kg (1.24lb) of CO2e per pound of kiwis. This is a very high carbon footprint compared to other fruits, which affects their environmental impact.
- What are the main contributors to the carbon footprint of kiwis: The main factors that contribute to kiwis’ carbon footprint are long growth times, long transportation distances from New Zealand, mechanized processing, refrigeration requirements, and low composting rates.
- Which life-cycle stage of kiwis has the highest carbon footprint: Transportation has the biggest impact on kiwis’ carbon footprint. This is because most are transported from New Zealand using refrigerated shipping containers, which use more fuel than dry goods containers.
In short, the high transportation distances, as well as other factors like mechanized processing and refrigeration all contribute to kiwis’ relatively high carbon footprint.
What Is the Waste Generation of Kiwis
Kiwis are delicate so they use a wide variety of packaging materials which often end up in landfill. They also have high organic waste generation. All of this has a significantly negative impact on the environment.
When fruit waste, either packaging or organic materials, is disposed of, they can have a major impact on the environment. Whether it’s damaging wildlife, getting into oceans, emitting methane, or dissolving into microplastics that contaminate groundwater, all these materials have their part to play. In this section, we will look at how kiwi waste affects the environment.
How does the waste generation of kiwis impact their environmental footprint?
- What is the packaging of kiwis: Kiwis are a very delicate fruit, so they are usually packaged in single layers in cardboard, wooden, or polyethylene trays with plastic inserts. To prevent extensive evaporation which can damage the fruit, they are also typically wrapped in perforated film. All of these packaging materials can have a negative impact on the environment due to the way they are manufactured and disposed of.
- How is the packaging of kiwis disposed of: Plastic packaging is one of the most harmful materials for the environment because it takes a long time to degrade and often ends up in landfill. Cardboard and wood are more environmentally friendly and polyethylene can be recycled to make like-for-like products. However, disposal practices vary between farms, with a lot of these materials still ending up in landfill. This has a negative impact on the environment.
- How are kiwis disposed of: Kiwis have peels that are not typically eaten. These can theoretically be composted, but unfortunately, only around 4% of food is actually composted. This means that the majority of kiwi peels are ending up in landfills. Landfills are harmful to the environment in many ways, such as producing carbon emissions, creating soil pollution, and damaging wildlife. When food goes into landfills, it can create even more damage through methane, a harmful greenhouse gas.
In short, kiwis use a fair amount of packaging and their peels often end up in landfill too. This has a negative impact on local wildlife, soil quality, and creates harmful methane gas.
What Have Been Historical Environmental Issues Connected to the Kiwi Industry
Kiwis have partaken in some farming practices that have harmed the environment a lot over the years, especially in China. Some of the impacts are soil and groundwater pollution and deforestation leading to habitat loss.
All fruits have had a complex road toward global distribution. They originate in one part of the world and often travel far to end up in your local supermarket. From farm to table, some of our favorite fruits have racked up some serious environmental damage along the way. Whether it’s deforestation to meet demand, water pollution, or disruption of wildlife, most fruits have left a path of destruction. Let’s see how kiwis have fared throughout history.
What have been the key historical environmental issues of the kiwi industry?
- How much land has been lost because of kiwi production: Kiwi production is a big business in New Zealand. However, the fruit actually originated in China. China has rapidly increased kiwi production since 1980. The 1990s saw high amounts of land being converted into kiwi farms which has significantly impacted the native landscape.In 2020, there were estimated to be 5,400 hectares of unauthorized kiwi planting across China, an increase of 2,900 hectares since 2019.
- Which wildlife species have been negatively impacted or displaced because of kiwi production: China has a high amount of endangered species, including tigers, asian elephants, camels, and the Chinese alligator. This is largely due to habitat loss caused by human activity. While kiwi farming has likely been a small component of this phenomenon, it is still part of the whole. In New Zealand, habitat loss has caused the native kiwi bird to be pushed into farmland, where they are often attacked by dogs.
- Have water sources and soil been contaminated because of kiwi production: China’s kiwi farms use more nitrogen fertilizer, as well as flooding irrigation, which has greatly impacted the soil quality as well as groundwater balance.
In short, kiwi production, especially in China, has had some serious impacts on the environment. From groundwater damage to wildlife habitat loss, the kiwi industry has had a negative impact on the environment.
What Is the Overall Environmental Impact of Food and Agriculture
Food production in general has a high environmental impact. Everything from the amount of land used to the energy involved in irrigation to its effect on plant and animal biodiversity can be a factor in this. In the chart below, you can see how food production is one of the biggest influences on these areas of the environment.
Agriculture alone accounts for over a quarter of global greenhouse gas emissions, while using half of the world’s habitable land and 70% of the global freshwater withdrawals. Agriculture also causes 78% of the global ocean and freshwater pollution.
Livestock accounts for the vast majority of non-human mammal and bird biomass. Mammal livestock outweighs wild mammals by a factor of 15-to-1, and poultry livestock outweighs wild birds by a factor of more than 3-to-1.
These statistics highlight the need for sustainable and responsible practices in food production to reduce its impact on the environment. And the need for us to shift toward more environmentally-friendly foods.
How Can You Reduce Your Environmental Impact and Offset Your Personal Carbon Footprint
There are a few things you can do to mitigate some of the negative environmental effects of consuming kiwis, while still enjoying them. You can also consider offsetting your personal and kiwi-related carbon emissions, which work to remove carbon emissions elsewhere that are then attributed to you. Here, we will walk you through how to accomplish both of these things.
How Can You Reduce Your Environmental Impact When Shopping for Kiwis
In this section, we give you a short list of ways you can reduce the negative environmental effects of kiwis, based on those parts of the life-cycle of kiwis that would otherwise most negatively impact the environment:
- Compost your kiwi peels: The low composting rates of kiwis means that their peels almost always end up in landfills. Therefore, one of the best ways you can reduce your kiwi environmental impact is by making the effort to compost the peels. If your city doesn’t provide composting services, then you can consider making your own compost.
- Use the whole kiwi: Even better than composting is actually making use of the entire kiwi. There are some great uses for kiwi peels, but one of the best ways to use them is to make your own sweets!
- Buy kiwis from smaller farms: Mechanization during the processing stage of kiwis has a significant impact on their carbon footprint, and by proxy, their environmental impact. Small or independent farms tend to use less mechanization. Furthermore, they tend to have higher land efficiency, which can help with another moderate contributor to kiwis’ environmental impact.
Following some of these methods can really help you to cut down on your environmental impact of eating kiwis. None of these will completely eradicate these negative impacts, since there are always effects that may be outside of your control. But some reduction is always better than nothing!
How Can You Offset Your Personal Carbon Footprint
The carbon footprint is a key part of your environmental impact. And it is one of the ways we measure the effects of our human-induced global climate change. Yes, even from eating kiwis!
“Carbon footprint: the amount of greenhouse gasses and specifically carbon dioxide emitted by something (such as a person’s activities or a product’s manufacture and transport) during a given period”
Merriam Webster
Basically, it is the amount of carbon emitted by you as an individual or an organization providing you with goods and services – including kiwis:
- This includes GHG emissions from producing the products that we use and foods that we eat (e.g., power plants, factories or farms, and landfills)
- GHG emissions from fuel that we burn directly or indirectly (e.g., logistics and transportation, cooling or heating facilities),
- as well as the GHG emissions attributed to how we consume these products and foods.
Carbon offsets are reductions in carbon emissions that are used to compensate for carbon emissions occurring elsewhere – for example for the carbon emissions that are associated with kiwis. They are measured in tons of CO2 equivalents and are bought and sold through international brokers, online retailers, and trading platforms on what is known as the global carbon offset market.
“Carbon Offset: a way for a company or person to reduce the level of carbon dioxide for which they are responsible by paying money to a company that works to reduce the total amount produced in the world, for example by planting trees”
Oxford Dictionary
In terms of kiwis – and indeed all food types – there will always be a carbon footprint, because of the resources it takes to get your food from farms to the place where you’ll eventually eat them. And while there are ways to reduce your carbon footprint when shopping for kiwis, carbon offsets would be a way to reduce your CO2e emissions all the way down to net zero (or even to become climate positive).
However, when you purchase carbon offsets, it’s important that they actually make a difference in offsetting (aka reducing) total carbon emissions. To achieve that, the following are key criteria:
- Carbon offset projects have to be effective (different projects have different effectiveness rates)
- Carbon offset projects have to be additional
- Carbon offset projects have to be permanent
- The claims from carbon offset projects have to be verifiable
To find the best carbon offsets for you personally, check out our full guide on the best carbon offsets for individuals, where you’ll also learn more about how these carbon offset projects work, what their respective offsetting costs are, and what your best way would be to offset your own carbon emissions.
Final Thoughts
Kiwis are a staple of fruit salads and smoothies alike, but all that comes at some cost to the environment. Though they are very low-impact in a lot of ways, such as not requiring a lot of water to grow and using less harmful fertilizers than other fruits, they still affect the environment. Their carbon footprint is very high, largely due to transportation from New Zealand, and they generate landfill-bound waste. However, by following some reduction methods, you can help bring your kiwi environmental impact down significantly!
Stay impactful,
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