Carbon labelling is taking off, and following the UK’s record-breaking heatwave, animal-rights charity Viva! is demanding the government prioritise carbon footprint labels. The government is under increasing pressure to make carbon footprint labels on restaurant menus in the UK ‘mandatory’. It follows the extreme heatwave that sweltered the nation last month, with temperatures hitting a record-high of 40.3°C.Animal rights charity Viva! has now launched an online petition to prevent the worsening of climate change and species extinction.
Awareness with Carbon Calculations
“Displaying carbon calculations on menus is significantly more important to the health of the UK and the planet than calories at this pivotal moment in time,” Viva! states. “Meat, dairy, fish and eggs have a considerably higher negative impact on the planet than vegan alternatives. We need more awareness of the link between our food choices and the environment”. According to the charity, eating just one beef burger can generate as much as 3.05kg CO2 per serving. This is the equivalent of driving the average UK petrol car for more than 10 miles. In comparison, vegan alternatives produce just 0.3kg CO2e.
A 2021 study published in Science Direct highlighted how ‘climate impact information’ can steer people towards food consumption that has a lower carbon emission. It points out that while some individuals avoid carbon information where possible, they alter their behaviour if information is imposed upon them. Researchers concluded: “The implication from our findings is that while interested individuals can be expected to more actively seek out climate impact information (e.g., turn the package, read a complex label), avoiders will only be affected by the label if it is imposed upon them. “Hence, while CO2e can be reduced by providing consumers with labels on their products, such initiatives will likely need to be mandatory, because high-emissions producers are unlikely to voluntarily provide such information on a product level”.
Sodexo Introduces Carbon Labelling
Sodexo has introduced carbon-labelled school meals at 12 secondary academies in the Oasis Community Learning portfolio, following a successful trial earlier this year. The school meals provider carried out a trial using a CO2e labelling app (Klimato) at two academies, Oasis Academy Arena in Croydon, south London and Oasis Academy MediaCityUK in Salford, Greater Manchester.
Sodexo uses the app to calculate the quantitative carbon footprint of each of the main courses on its secondary school menu and has created a traffic light system with ‘low-medium-high’ CO2 emissions labels so the students can see at a glance the environmental impact of each dish. To help educate its young diners on the carbon labelling Sodexo’s marketing team developed eye-catching promotional artwork for the dining rooms, pull up banners, bunting, flyers and branded t-shirts to launch the initiative at the two trial sites.
The campaign captured the imagination of the students and results from the initial months of the trial, show an increase in uptake of CO2e friendly options including chickpea curry and white bean chilli – at both Oasis Academy MediaCityUK and Oasis Academy Arena. At both academies the number of students choosing low carbon meals has increased – Oasis Academy MediaCityUK – 78% to 90% and Oasis Academy Arena – 71% to 88%. The average kg CO2e per meal reduced at Oasis Academy MediaCityUK – 0.6 to 0.4 and Oasis Academy Arena – 0.5 to 0.4.
The results from the trial are also helping to inform ongoing menu development. Chickpea curries and white bean chilli dishes are proving popular, whilst popular high CO2e recipes such as beef jollof, cottage pie and beef lasagne are being reviewed to replace part of the meat content with high quality plant-based protein alternatives to lower the carbon impact of that dish.
Steve Hawkins. managing director, Schools, Sodexo UK & Ireland said: “Using the CO2e labelling helps pupils to make more sustainable choices and educate themselves about the carbon footprint of food more generally. We are equipping young diners to make the right climate conscious choices and encouraging them to try low carbon dishes to help minimise damage to our planet”. “We have worked with Oasis to help educate its students on the impact food has on the environment. In the dining halls we have thought-provoking food facts about high CO2e foods such as beef burgers. Sustainability is a high priority for Sodexo and Oasis and together through initiatives like this we are helping make a better tomorrow for future generations. Opting to choose a more CO2e friendly lunch may seem like a small gesture for an individual but when people change their behaviours in large numbers it really adds up.”
John Barneby, chief operating officer, Oasis Community Learning added: “As an education provider, Oasis Community Learning recognises its responsibility to protect the environment for the current and future generations. We are pleased with the success of Sodexo’s carbon-labelling trial which has been well-received and is contributing to our net zero journey.”
Sodexo’s global target – validated by SBTi – to reduce carbon emissions by 34% by 2025 (against a 2017 baseline) forms part of Sodexo’s Better Tomorrow commitment. Having already exceeded this, the UK and Ireland business – which employs in excess of 30,000 people – has set its sights on becoming Carbon Neutral in its direct operations by 2025. By 2030 it aims to reduce carbon emissions across all three scopes by 50% and its long-term ambition is the decarbonisation of its business across all three scopes by 2045. Its net zero plan to achieve this includes increasing the number of plant-based meals and recipes to 33% by 2025.
The Canteen
The Canteen in Stokes Croft has partnered with Viva! And My Emissions – a company that offers carbon labelling in food to promote carbon transparency in the food industry. My Emissions won the Young Innovators’ award in 2021/2022. By displaying the carbon footprint of dishes on the menu, displaying the carbon footprint of dishes on the menu, The Canteen hopes to contribute towards more environmentally conscious food choices amongst their customers.
Matthew Isaacs, co-founder of My Emissions, points out that the global food industry accounts for around 26 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions: “Climate change is the problem of our generation, and eating more low carbon food is one of the best ways we can reduce our impact on the planet.” The decision follows new legislation that came into effect in April this year, which requires large restaurants to display the calories of each item on their menus.
The controversial legislation has led to mental health and ED activists questioning whether such a move will really benefit people’s health, and how sensible the move is for those suffering from eating disorders. Nevertheless, the legislation shows it is clear that the government is able to implement industry-wide rules to inform people on their eating habits, argues Viva!
Could carbon labelling be an alternative to calorie labelling, with the potential for a more positive outcome? Head chef at The Canteen, doctor Matthew Harris thinks so: “Including carbon footprints on menus is a positive step in encouraging people to be more aware of the impact of their choices.”
He also added: “If carbon labelling was rolled out across the UK, we’d see restaurants and customers encouraged to make better decisions around the food they consume.” The Canteen’s initiative follows a trend that reached even COP26’s menus.
Restaurant and hospitality company, Levy and carbon footprint calculator Klimato launched a A Recipe for Change initiative last year, and analysed the carbon footprint of the food served at COP26, informing which dishes had the lowest impact in terms of emissions. A study conducted by the University of Wüzuburg in Germany and published in PLOS Climate journal, found that when people were given the carbon footprint on food menu items, they were more likely to make healthy, and less environmentally harmful decisions.
During the study, the dishes were labelled as high, medium, and low carbon emissions. Results showed that consumers chose dishes that had less of a carbon footprint, and as a result, food outlets’ greenhouse gas emissions dropped by 13.5 per cent. Doctor Harris says adding predominantly vegan dishes in food outlets is another way of reducing food outlets’ carbon footprint. The ‘A recipe for change’ initiative also suggests pushing for more sustainable practices throughout the supply chain, for example through using more local suppliers, including less ultra-processed foods in your diet.
The Venues Collection
The Venues Collection has announced the introduction of Carbon Labelling across all their menus. This ground breaking initiative will put valuable information into the hands of event organisers and empower them to make informed decisions when choosing the food to be served at their events.
Jo Austin, Sales Director, The Venues Collection said: “Organisers have the responsibility of choosing many hundreds of meals for their events, so their choices have a significant impact on sustainability. Sustainability anxiety is very real, so we are helping to overcome this by arming organisers with information; knowing the impact that a meal has on the climate gives organisers more ownership and control over what they are choosing for their delegates and the total impact their event will have on the climate.
No food is off limit; each of the items on our menus are colour coded with varying shades of green and an easy-to-understand scale so organisers can see at a glance where each item sits on the carbon emissions scale. Just like a healthy diet, where ‘good’ and ‘bad’ food are eaten in moderation, this approach allows organisers and delegates to easily eat carbon consciously when visiting us.
“Sustainability is important to delegates and so we encourage organisers to share this information and the actions they have taken to create sustainable events. We are very excited and really looking forward to seeing the impact that Carbon Labelling will have on the food choices made by organisers, and how this impacts on delegates and ultimately the planet.”
The Venues Collection is working with Klimato; a third-party business that tracks global food sourcing and movement to create up to date carbon footprint information about ingredients of a dish. In the food industry climate labels are based on calculations of the emissions of greenhouse gases presented as kg carbon dioxide equivalents (kg CO2e). The calculations in turn are based on values assigned to each stage of the production of the food through life cycle assessments (LCAs). Some foods, such as a chickpea patty will have very low carbon emissions compared to meals such as spaghetti Bolognese; taking the middle ground would steer organisers to dishes such as poached cod.
Carbon Labelling is the latest stage in The Venues Collection’s Meetings for Change initiative, which is a five-point charter focussing on sustainable food options. The venues already have ethically sourced tea and coffee served with Red Tractor Assured milk; buffet lunch, dinner and breakfast options that prioritise British seasonal ingredients, minimal food waste and plant-forward options; hydration stations that use fruit and vegetable peelings to flavour the water to remove single-use plastics and reduce food waste. They also have a sustainable approach to the use of stationary, ‘take what you like, but only take what you need’.
The Venues Collection is part of Lime Venue Portfolio who are rolling out Carbon Labelling across all of their venues. The Collection is the residential venue business of Compass Group UK & Ireland and has seven event and training sites across the South West, South East, and East & West Midlands.
Carbon literacy is the first step towards understanding the emissions produced by the products we buy. Without this information, consumers are being asked to make decisions in an information vacuum. “If you’re in a grocery store, you can find out the ingredients, and the amount of calories. It would be helpful if we had that for carbon footprint as well,” says Seth Wynes, a postdoctoral student who studies climate change mitigation at Concordia University in Montreal. “It wouldn’t have to be limited to food. We already do that with Energy Star products and that’s really helpful. These are big decisions that are locking in emissions for the lifetime of a product.”