Jakarta (ANTARA) – The Canteen restaurant located in southwest England not only provides the price of each dish on its menu but also information about the carbon footprint contained in the dishes.
Menu beetroot and carrot pakora with yoghurtfor example, is only responsible for 16 grams of CO2 emissions. There is also a menu of eggplant with miso sauce and harissa with tabbouleh and Zaatar toast producing 675 grams of carbon dioxide.
The menu at the restaurant also notes a comparison with a dish they do not serve, namely a beef burger produced in the UK which produces 10 times the emissions of its alternative.
The Canteen in July became the first restaurant to agree to provide carbon footprint information on its menus under a campaign spearheaded by Viva!, a British vegan campaigning charity.
The Canteen restaurant manager Liam Stock called the move a way to see and understand the actions humans have taken regarding the climate crisis.
Regarding whether the carbon footprint influences diners’ ordering choices, this still needs to be reviewed. Still, Stock said his restaurant’s menu innovations have sparked interest and support.
“In the UK if you have a large restaurant it is mandatory for you to provide information about calories on the menu. But many people say they are more interested in the carbon footprint,” said Stock, quoted by AFP on Wednesday.
According to Stock, the dishes at his restaurant will have a low carbon footprint because most of the ingredients are sourced domestically.
Meanwhile, campaign managers at Viva! Laura Hellwig said carbon footprint figures should be mandatory for restaurants to provide.
He argues that most people would actually choose something that is good for the planet when faced with a comparison between the carbon footprint of a meat-based meal and a vegan meal.
“We are in a climate emergency and consumers must be able to make informed choices,” the activist said.
To calculate the carbon footprint of food, The Canteen sends recipes and sources of the ingredients they use to a special company called MyEmissions. The company can calculate the resulting carbon impact by considering aspects of farming, processing, transportation and packaging.
The carbon footprint resulting from business and consumer activities is increasingly under scrutiny as countries struggle to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius and to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.
According to the UK government, the average Briton leaves an annual carbon footprint of more than 10 tonnes. The UK itself has set an ambitious goal to reduce carbon emissions by 78 percent by 2035, compared with 1990 levels, to meet its international climate change commitments.
