Eating low-carbon foods helps reduce emissions, but some foods actually suck up carbon from the atmosphere, leaving the climate in a better place.

We all know that producing most foods creates greenhouse gas emissions, driving climate change. These emissions come from hundreds of different sources, including tractors burning fuel, manufacturing fertiliser and the bacteria in cow’s guts. Overall, food production contributes a quarter of human caused greenhouse gas emissions.

However, there are some foods that remove more greenhouse gases than they emit, often referred to as “carbon negative” foods. These foods leave the climate better than they found it. Producing and eating more of these could help reduce the carbon impact of our food and, in some cases, restore ecosystems in the process.

When plants grow, they take carbon dioxide (CO2) from the air, but when we (or animals) metabolise these plants, this CO2 usually gets released straight back into the air.

Due to ongoing emissions, however, we need to permanently remove carbon from the atmosphere, storing it deep in the sea, rocks, soil or in trees. There are a few food products and production practices that do this. In fact, it’s already possible to make your entire diet carbon negative, although in today’s world, it would require substantial changes to how most people eat.