The global use of and pressure on land resources will continue to rise in tandem with the predicted rise in global population and food demand. Addressing unavoidable trade-offs between satisfying human needs and biodiversity conservation for future generations is of paramount importance when tackling the global environmental challenges of land use. Food consumption patterns are inextricably linked to land-use and land-use changes. The domestic supply and final use of food by humans and feed by animals within the borders of a country have environmental impacts overseas. Countries like Denmark, with considerably high livestock production, import “virtual” land needed to produce cereals and other fodder crops. Denmark's high meat and dairy consumption and trade levels make it a compelling case for this study. The overarching question is: how much land is required to support food and feed consumption in Denmark? This paper assesses the global cropland footprint of Danish food and feed supply from 2000 to 2013 using a consumption-based physical accounting approach. In addition to domestic croplands for local food and supply, we estimate the hectares of cropland displaced in other countries to satisfy Danish demand for food and feed in this period. Secondly, we calculate Denmark's global cropland requirements for the supply of specific livestock products, namely; pork, eggs, beef, milk, and mutton. Globally, animals provide a third of the protein in human diets and agricultural GDP. The total global cropland footprint of Danish food and feed supply decreased by 18% from 1568 kha in 2000 to 1282 kha in 2013 because of a reduction in the consumption of ruminant livestock products. A high share of this reduction can be attributed to increased local self-sufficiency in feed supply as opposed to rising food imports. The share of cropland used for feed in total cropland declined by 5% whereas the share of cropland used for food increased from 28% in 2000 to 32% by 2013. Our findings suggest that reducing domestic meat consumption coupled with local self-sufficiency policies for both food and feed supply could be a means of lowering ecological degradation in exporting countries.

预计全球人口和粮食需求将增加，全球对土地资源的使用和压力将继续增加。在应对全球土地使用的环境挑战时，在满足人类需求和为子孙后代保护生物多样性之间进行不可避免的折衷是至关重要的。粮食消费模式与土地利用和土地利用变化密不可分。在一个国家的边界​​内，人类对食物的国内供应和最终使用以及动物对动物的饲料的使用会对海外环境造成影响。像丹麦这样的牲畜产量很高的国家，需要进口“虚拟”土地来生产谷物和其他饲料作物。丹麦肉类和奶制品的高消费量和贸易水平使该研究成为令人信服的案例。首要问题是：丹麦需要多少土地来支持食品和饲料消费？本文使用基于消耗的实物核算方法评估了2000年至2013年丹麦食品和饲料供应在全球的耕地足迹。除了用于当地粮食和供应的国内农田之外，我们估计在其他国家中流离失所的农田也可以满足这一时期丹麦对粮食和饲料的需求。其次，我们计算丹麦在全球范围内对特定牲畜产品供应的需求，即：猪肉，鸡蛋，牛肉，牛奶和羊肉。在全球范围内，动物提供了人类饮食和农业GDP中三分之一的蛋白质。丹麦食品和饲料供应的全球耕地总面积从2000年的1568 kha下降到2013年的1282 kha，减少了18％，这是因为反刍动物畜产品的消费量减少了。这种减少的很大一部分可归因于当地饲料供应的自给率增加，而不是粮食进口增加。用于饲料的耕地占总耕地的比例下降了5％，而用于食品的耕地所占的比例从2000年的28％增加到了2013年的32％。我们的研究结果表明，减少国内肉类消费以及当地的自给自足政策粮食和饲料供应都可以成为减少出口国生态退化的一种手段。