The carbon footprint of food is a subject that comes back on the table, particularly between the two New Year's Eves at the end of the year.
It's the inevitable chestnut of the end of the year and a complicated subject because our food represents a significant part of our carbon footprint: agriculture. This represents 20% of greenhouse gas emissions in France. According to the High Council for the Climate, red meat accounts for around 38% of the carbon footprint of an average French person.
“In France, the consumption of red meat tends to stagnate: we eat a little less of it at home, but we eat more of it outside.”
François GemenneFranceinfo
The attachment that people feel for certain foods is sometimes cultural; there are also questions of taste and pleasure, which belong to everyone. But two reasons, in particular, explain pwhy it is complicated to change your diet.
Firstly, there is the fact that the French are often poorly informed. The carbon footprint of different meats is not at all the same: that of duck is infinitely less than that of beef, for example. Many people also imagine that fruit and vegetables grown near their home necessarily have a better carbon footprint than fruit and vegetables imported from abroad, when this is not necessarily the case. The importance is how they are cultivated; transport costs represent on average 15% of the product's carbon footprint. This means that a vegetable grown close to home, but in a greenhouse, will undoubtedly have a poorer carbon footprint than a vegetable grown outdoors on the other side of the world.
The second reason lies in the injunctions to eat this or not to eat that. It is almost always judgmental and guilt-inducing, and often inquisitive. This almost always arouses rejection.
“A very large French hotel group conducted an experiment in its restaurants: vegetarian dishes are ordered more when the menu does not indicate that they are vegetarian dishes. We hate being told what to must eat, and we want to control our diet.”
François GemenneFranceinfo
Stefano Lovo and Yurii Handziuk, who work in the finance department at HEC, Hautes Etudes Commerciales, wondered how it was possible to reduce the carbon footprint of the HEC canteen. The two professors carried out experiments over two years on 140,000 meal trays. First, they proposed a ban, with one day a week without meat in the canteen. It has also implemented this proposal in 2021 and 2022, however with mixed results: the carbon footprint has fallen by 10%, but the consumption of red meat has often shifted elsewhere.
They then tried the information solution, in 2022 and 2023: the carbon footprint of each dish was displayed, but this did not lead to a significant change in consumption, and therefore no significant drop, no. plus, the carbon footprint of the canteen.
Finally, they tried pricing, in spring 2023: they varied the price of dishes according to their carbon footprint, with a fairly low modulation, of 50 cents. This has, in particular, enabled a reduction in the carbon footprint of 27%. The two researchers went further in the process, by offering low-carbon impact dishes for less than two euros, and meat dishes for more than 8 euros. This solution gave spectacular results: the carbon footprint fell by 42%.
In the HEC canteen, this last option was the most popular among students and approved by more than 60% of respondents. It is therefore possible to significantly reduce the carbon footprint of our food. In a capitalist system, the price signal is often more effective than injunctions.
