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Food

1 kg organic tomatoes

1 kg luomutomaatteja

5.7
Truecost score
Data confidence: MEDIUM

Carbon varies enormously by growing method (open-field vs heated greenhouse). Water data solid from Mekonnen & Hoekstra. Land use reflects yield gap.

Organic open-field tomatoes produce ~0.95 kg CO₂e/kg — similar to conventional. The advantage is near-zero pesticide toxicity; the trade-off is higher land use per kg.

Did you know? Organic tomatoes have nearly the same carbon footprint as conventional ones. The real benefit — soil health and zero synthetic pesticides — doesn't show up in carbon metrics.
Transparent calculation

How was this number determined?

The Truecost score is calculated from absolute physical values. Each row below shows the measured value, how it was normalized, and where it comes from.

Dimension Absolute value Score 100 = Normalized Weight Weighted Confidence
Carbon Emissions 0.95 kg CO₂e 9.5 kg CO₂e 10.0 ×0.35 3.50 MEDIUM
Water Consumption 214.0 liters 3840 liters 5.57 ×0.2 1.11 HIGH
Land Use 2.5 m²·year 51 m²·year 4.9 ×0.2 0.98 MEDIUM
Waste 0.05 kg 5 kg 1.0 ×0.15 0.15 LOW
Toxicity 0.05 µDALY 162 µDALY 0.03 ×0.1 0.00 MEDIUM
Truecost score (weighted sum) 5.7

Share of your annual planetary budget

Carbon Emissions 0.10%
Water Consumption 0.06%
Land Use 0.05%
Waste 0.01%
Toxicity <0.01%
Source data by dimension

Where do the absolute values come from?

Carbon Emissions
MEDIUM
Poore & Nemecek (2018): tomatoes 1.4 kg CO₂e/kg average (all systems). Organic open-field in Southern Italy: 40% less per hectare than conventional (Ferrara 2019), but ~15-30% lower yield per kg means ~0.9-1.0 kg CO₂e/kg. For open-field organic, 0.95 kg CO₂e/kg. Austrian open-field organic: as low as 0.11 kg CO₂e/kg (Theurl 2014).
  • Poore & Nemecek (2018): Reducing food's environmental impacts — Science 360(6392)
  • Ferrara et al. (2019): Carbon footprint of tomato production — organic vs. conventional — J. Cleaner Production 226
  • Theurl et al. (2014): Carbon footprint of greenhouse and open-field tomato — European climatic conditions

Huge variation: 0.11 (Austrian open-field) to 7.2 (heated greenhouse) kg CO₂e/kg. Open-field in warm climate assumed. Heated greenhouses dominate European supply in winter.

Water Consumption
HIGH
Mekonnen & Hoekstra (2011): global average tomato water footprint 214 L/kg total (108 green + 63 blue + 43 grey). Organic may use slightly more water per kg due to lower yields, but less grey water (no synthetic fertilizer runoff). ~214 L/kg used as baseline.
  • Mekonnen & Hoekstra (2011): The green, blue and grey water footprint of crops — Hydrology and Earth System Sciences 15

Organic eliminates grey water footprint from synthetic fertilizers but may increase blue water per kg due to lower yields.

Land Use
MEDIUM
Poore & Nemecek (2018): tomatoes use ~1.3-1.8 m²/kg for conventional open-field. Organic yields are typically 50-80% of conventional (Seufert et al. 2012), so land per kg increases to ~2.0-3.0 m²/kg. Midpoint: 2.5 m²/kg.
  • Poore & Nemecek (2018): Reducing food's environmental impacts — Science 360(6392)
  • Seufert et al. (2012): Comparing the yields of organic and conventional agriculture — Nature 485

Organic tomato yields are ~20-50% lower than conventional, requiring proportionally more land per kg.

Waste
LOW
Packaging ~30g, trim/spoilage ~20g per kg. Organic tomatoes may have slightly higher spoilage due to no synthetic preservatives.

Minimal compared to other dimensions.

Toxicity
MEDIUM
No synthetic pesticides or herbicides in organic farming. Residual toxicity only from naturally permitted substances (copper sulfate, neem) and background soil contamination. Dramatically lower than conventional.
  • Smith-Spangler et al. (2012): Are organic foods safer or healthier? — Annals of Internal Medicine 157(5)

Key advantage of organic: near-zero synthetic pesticide exposure for consumers and farmworkers.

Comparisons

Methodology

Carbon from Poore & Nemecek (2018) meta-analysis adjusted for organic yield gap. Water from Mekonnen & Hoekstra (2011). Land use reflects organic yield penalty (Seufert 2012).

Sources