Food with a carbon counter - 7th October 2022

In restaurants, we usually choose food we like eating, or because the price is right. In a new restaurant in southwest England you can choose the best carbon footprint.

The UK Vegan charity Viva! is teaching people about food's carbon footprint. They helped “The Canteen” put them on the menu.

Laura Hellwig: "I think people are a lot more aware nowadays that the climate crisis is here and that they have to act. And obviously, we hope, we're urging the government to act by for example, implementing carbon counting. But it's also really important that people know people power's a big, big driver for change."

The Canteen serves vegan and vegetarian dishes. One dish is carrot and beetroot with yoghurt. The carbon footprint is quite low for vegetarian dishes like this. A good choice if you want to help the climate. The carbon footprint of a hamburger is much bigger. Do customers like the carbon footprint labelling on the menu?

Enyioma Anomelechi: "I think it's interesting. However, when I go out to eat, I normally go out for enjoyment, right? But if you could tell me, what, if I went shopping for example, eating at home - what my carbon footprint was for my shop, I'd be much more inclined to change what's in my shopping basket."

The restaurant buys almost all of its ingredients locally, this keeps the carbon footprint of their dishes low. A specialist company helped them calculate the total emissions of each dish, including the farming and packaging.

Nathan Johnson went to try the place out.

Nathan Johnson: "I think that's quite useful. I think it might, if I was choosing between two dishes, maybe depending on how hungry I was, I might choose the one with a lower, lower footprint, just you know, it's useful to see."

Does the carbon footprint change what people choose to have?

Customer Sally Wright.

Sally Wright: "It wouldn't necessarily change how I ordered. But it would be interesting because I think it would strike up conversation when you're ordering, like over your table, which might then change your decisions when you're going shopping in the future."