By adding carbon emissions to its menu for the first time in Britain, a vegetarian restaurant is flexing its green mussels and demonstrating the environmental cost of each meal.
Customers at The Canteen in Bristol have reportedly responded well to learning about how their food choices affect the world as a whole.
Each meal’s carbon impact, ingredients, and cost are all displayed on the menu.
The distance that ingredients have to travel, the seasonality of ingredients, and emissions during manufacturing are all included in the footprint.
It comes after The Canteen was asked to consider printing carbon footprints on its menu by Viva!, the top vegan charity in the UK.
The organisation claims that after being rejected by eateries that served meat meals, it was thrilled to get the nod from The Canteen.
The vegan cuisine “Miso and harissa aubergine, Za’atar brittle, courgette baba ganoush & tabbouleh” currently has the largest carbon footprint. It weighs 674g CO2 and costs £8.50.
The shared dish of beet, carrot, and coriander yoghurt pakora has the lowest carbon footprint on the menu at only 16g CO2.
“We teamed with My Emissions [a food carbon footprint calculator] and The Canteen to explore precisely how much influence carbon labelling on our menus can have,” stated Laura Hellwig, managing director of Viva!
Unsurprisingly, establishments that serve meat have so far chosen not to participate. We believe this is because they are aware that meat-based dishes have a much larger carbon footprint than vegan options.
The environmental impact of meals is likely to have an impact on diners’ decisions, according to research released in May by the University of Würzburg in Germany.
The menu said a genuine beef burger’s emissions are “10 times the quantity of its vegan substitute,” which astonished one diner who saw the emissions of a vegan burger came in at 3 kilogrammes.
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The whole menu was reviewed by our head chef Matt before being submitted to the food carbon footprint calculator MyEmissions.
“We were all anticipating the findings, and they were a tremendous eye opener.”
The top of the menu states: “All meals display the total carbon emissions created, per serving, in grammes.” This comparison between various foods is startling.
For comparison, consuming just one beef burger manufactured in the UK may result in up to 3,050 g of CO2 emissions, which is up to ten times more than the comparable amount from a vegan burger.
‘We reuse everything here, from lemons to aquafaba,’ said Penny Hartley, a chef at the establishment.
“Given the climate catastrophe we are in, this is a really crucial step, and our endeavour, from a local small company, is something I’m extremely glad to be a part of.”
The venue’s carbon information, according to assistant manager Greg Picott, is helping to change people’s perspectives.
‘It allows individuals to deliberately think about the influence their daily actions have on the environment, and eventually inspires them to take good steps ahead,’ Mr. Picott, who has been a vegan for seven years, said.
“I wouldn’t want to work someplace that doesn’t consider sustainability; there is no disputing that we are now experiencing a climate emergency.”
“I really hope the initiative takes off,” the author says. “Having this menu makes it much more visceral to people when it’s broken down, and our menu reveals the numerical value of why being vegan is best for the environment.”