What is LED 4 Food?
Getting accurate, consistent environmental and climate data can be a real challenge for food businesses, especially when it comes to understanding supply chain impact. But without it, it’s hard to identify areas for reducing emissions, improving climate outcomes, or reporting progress in a meaningful way.
The Long-Term Improvement in Environmental Data for Food project – better known as LED 4 Food – is making environmental impact data more reliable and accessible for businesses within the food system.
Funded by Defra, LED 4 Food is delivered by WRAP and partners including Oxford University, WWF and Foodsteps. We’re focused on:
- Building a stronger evidence base to support smart decisions in the agrifood sector
- Improving how environmental data is collected and shared across the food supply chain
- Enabling consistent, data-driven action to reduce harmful environmental impacts.
This work will help food businesses measure and report on environmental impact more accurately and take the right steps to cut emissions and protect our planet.
The challenge with food system environmental data
Most food businesses are unable to take targeted action to improve their business operations and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions because they can’t access full supply chain or farm-level data.
Instead, many food businesses rely on public databases. This type of secondary data is often out of date, too generalised, or not specific enough to their business operations to inform meaningful decisions.
When businesses do have access to environmental data, it’s often measured in different ways, lacking a consistent approach to measuring GHG emissions. This makes it hard to compare results, identify the best interventions to reduce GHGs, or work with their supply chain to improve performance.
Smaller businesses face an even greater challenge, as they often lack the time, tools, support and funding to measure and report their environmental impact.
The impact of LED 4 Food so far
LED 4 Food launched in 2024 and builds on earlier collaboration to enhance the quality and availability of standardised environmental impact data. We have:
- Developed a data format harmonisation roadmap to make sure environmental data is collected, structured and shared in the same way across organisations.
- Made high-quality, standardised data on hundreds of food products available on HESTIA using research from Rothamsted Research, SRUC and other sources. The data is already being used to provide some of the most robust and granular estimates of environmental impacts.
- Analysed the environmental impact and uncertainty of existing data on certain food products to inform and educate businesses and policymakers.
- Developed recommendations for a standardised way to measure product footprints that will help businesses measure and report environmental impact and Scope 3 emissions.
This work is already changing how food system data is used, but to turn tools into impact, we need more businesses to adopt them and more investment to accelerate their reach.
Speak to us about getting involved
What’s next for LED 4 Food
LED 4 Food runs until 2027, and we’re focused on equipping the food and drink sector with the tools and resources they need to report on the environmental impact of their products. We are:
- Launching a free platform to access food product environmental impact data, suitable for businesses of all sizes. Watch this space, it’s coming in 2026!
- Continuing to develop the product footprint recommendations to provide a holistic overview of a food product’s environmental impact, including both climate and nature impacts
- Working with industry partners and data solutions providers to make communication of environmental impact data easier and faster, as well as show how farm-level data can securely feed into scaled open-source databases.
Help shape the future of food system environmental data
We’re building the tools and standards to transform how food system environmental data is collected, shared and used. From open-access platforms to consistent footprinting and measurement, this work will give businesses the insights they need to understand the true impact of food and drink production, and, crucially, how to reduce it.
For businesses
Test the food product environmental data platform: If you’re a small or medium-sized food business, we need your help to test the prototype of the new data platform. Your insights will help shape the final version before it’s launched in 2026, and feed directly into Defra policy considerations.
Test the product footprinting standard: Help shape future standards for accessible food product environmental impact data. Your feedback will inform recommendations for future improvements and endorsements by Defra and the FDTP.
For international governments and funders
We’re creating a model for transparency and consistency on food system environmental data that can be applied globally. Let’s work together to expand this work into your markets.