A new study has found that revamping a restaurant menu could make dining out more climate friendly.
German researchers asked 256 study participants to look at a fictitious online menu and choose an option, according to the study published in the journal PLOS Climate. Beef – with its high greenhouse gas footprint – was on the menu, as was a medium-emissions option (chicken) and a lower-emitting alternative (falafel).
Participants were presented one of 30 different menus. In one version, the pita bread sandwich came with beef, though the person could – without charge – swap the red meat for chicken shawarma or falafel. In others, the falafel was the default, with upgrades to beef and chicken possible.
Researchers found participants were significantly more likely to choose the falafel option when it was the default. Using the low-emissions food as the default saved the equivalent of 0.5 kilograms of carbon dioxide per dish ordered – a reduction of 32 percent.
Some menus also contained carbon labels: information about how much greenhouse gas was emitted in the production of the dish. This information prompted participants to switch to medium and lower-carbon cuisine. Adding these labels saved 0.2kg of carbon dioxide per dish, reducing average emissions by about 14 percent.
“People tend to align their behaviour to what other people (allegedly) do, and using the vegetable patty as a default for a burger suggests that people usually have the veggie rather than the beef version of that burger,” noted researcher, Benedikt Seger.
Seger encouraged restaurants concerned about the climate crisis to try one or both strategies because in combination, the two strategies tested by the research can supplement each other. The lowest-carbon meal option was most likely to be chosen when it was both the default, and a carbon label was present.
The researchers warned, however, that data suggests some diners won’t be influenced out of choosing the red meat option, no matter how many strategies are employed to convince them otherwise.
