Pasta comes second to potatoes on the carbon footprint scale, but how you cook it can also make a difference to emissions.
R icecultivation, like other carbohydrates, causes soil and water pollution because of pesticide and fertiliser use. All carbohydrates require the input of energy and raw materials (such as fuel and fertilisers), which are responsible for nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide emissions. Nevertheless, rice cultivation is responsible for 10-13 per cent of worldwide methane emissions. Indeed, rice is produced by flooding the field. In the paddy fields methanotrophs (soil microorganisms) produce methane, increasing the impact of rice on global warming. All these factors make rice the worst carbohydrate in terms of the climate.