Tübingen. One third of global greenhouse gas emissions are generated in the food supply chain. Our decisions in favour of or against certain foods therefore contribute to climate protection. As part of a pilot project, the Studierendenwerk Tübingen-Hohenheim has therefore introduced CO2 labelling of its food offerings in the Morgenstelle refectory in Tübingen. “Students no longer have to rely on their gut feeling to assess how climate-friendly dishes are,” explains Philipp Mang, press spokesperson for the Studierendenwerk. “By indicating the carbon footprint, we are also making it easier for our guests to make a consciously sustainable choice in their eating behaviour.”
This is made possible by linking the entire merchandise management system and meal planning with the services of an external service provider. On behalf of the Studierendenwerk, the company Eaternity has calculated the emissions generated for each product and recipe on the menu and converted them into scientifically substantiated CO2 equivalents (CO₂e). This process is automated and runs on a daily basis.
The calculation takes into account the entire life cycle of a food product, from agricultural production and further processing through to packaging, preservation and transport – the journey “from farm to fork”, so to speak. These are average or approximate values. Emissions generated during cooling and processing in the refectory are not included.
The calculations are based on the Eaternity database. It is currently the largest and most comprehensive database for calculating climate-relevant emissions from meals and food products. It currently contains more than 550 ingredients. The database is maintained and further developed by scientists from the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW), the University of Zurich (UZH), the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zurich), the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL), Quantis and other institutions.
With this project, the Studierendenwerk is creating more transparency in terms of sustainability. In future, the labelling will be extended to other refectories.
