Churchill College has partnered with Klimato, a software company providing a carbon calculator tool to help us reduce our carbon footprint from food.
We are now able to:
- Calculate the climate impact of the food served using an online carbon footprint calculator and get insights on carbon heavy ingredients to avoid
- Communicate the carbon footprint of food items with carbon labels on menus and other surfaces (ie. digital menus)
- Report on emissions from the food we sell, and track progress over time with monthly reports
This means our catering team can put carbon labels on menus, to inform diners and educate them about the climate impact of their food choices.
Currently, the College is using the software to set goals and track individual canteens as well as oversee the food emissions created by the whole organisation.
Sebastian-Petre Petrescu, Catering Administrative Assistant, has been championing the work internally. Sebi said: “We provide the carbon footprint labelling for each menu item using Klimato to inform our customers about climate impact and encourage them to choose climate-friendly foods. At the end of the month, we upload all the sales data to get the monthly report.”
David Oakley, Head of Catering, said, “The monthly reports are useful and shows that students are taking carbon footprint into account when choosing what to eat. Small changes can make a difference, for instance a beef chilli meal contributes around 3.8g of carbon, while a spiced bean stew comes in at 0.1g CO2 equivalent.”
For context, an average lunch or dinner in the UK is around 1.6kg CO2 equivalent.
Displaying the carbon footprint of food in this way is part of Churchill College’s wider sustainability strategy.
