Environmental impact of the production phase
Scope of the study and results
The system under study produces tomatoes and cucumbers for the fresh market. The functional unit selected for calculating the environmental footprint is one kilogram of tomatoes and cucumbers. This unit is used for the cradle-to-gate Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). The system boundaries, defined at the farm gate, include the following processes: extraction and preparation of raw materials, energy use for the infrastructure and production, manufacture of structures and equipment, transport of system inputs, and disposal of production waste and structures (Figure 1).
