'Smart' Winter Vegetables: Balancing Nutrients, Carbon Footprint and Cost

Overview

My project examines how vegetable nutrient trends change throughout the winter, whether they differ by food source and which option is most cost-effective and has the least carbon impact. For my experiment I chose three types of vegetables (garlic, potato and kale) and three categories (grocery store, home-stored local, home-stored non-local). I tested each type of vegetable, from each source using Vitamin C test strips, a refractometer, and Iodine titration. I also recorded the cost and estimated carbon footprint. For my results, I found no significant difference between the nutrient trends from all sources. For cost, local was substantially more than non-local, with the exception of kale. Stored local vegetables had the lowest carbon footprint. This information is important as it helped me to develop a simple decision key. The decision key supports consumers to make informed purchases depending on which component; nutrients, cost or carbon impacts, they value most.

Awards (1)

• Selected for CWSF 2026

Competition history

• CWSF 2026 Agriculture, Fisheries & Food

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