As part of a pilot project launched in November, the Polytechnique Montréal cafeteria is now revealing the carbon footprint generated by each dish on its hot table, a first initiative in Canada.
From now on, every Thursday, a rating, like a grade from a school report, is assigned to the hot meals served in the cafeteria of the engineering university, explains Patrick Cigana, senior adviser at the establishment’s Office of Sustainable Development.
When The Press took his turn, the students, in line towards the food service counter, paid attention to the explanatory table of the notes. According to a scale in kilograms of CO equivalent2, a grade from A to F is given to each meal. Specifically, an A is assigned to a dish that emits between 0.30 and 0.39 kg equivalent of CO2while an F corresponds rather to a meal that emits more than 2.
“Right now, the environment is a very big issue. We should look at that more, so I think it’s a very good idea,” said Louis-Alexis Paquette, an aerospace engineering student.
“If I hesitate between two dishes, one which is C+ and the other an A, I will take the A”, adds his classmate, Vincent Bouchard.
Such an initiative was put forward in a restaurant in England last summer.
An educational project
The formula essentially aims to make Polytechnique Montréal students aware of the environmental impact of the content of their plate, emphasizes Patrick Cigana.
PHOTO MARTIN CHAMBERLAND, THE PRESS
Patrick Cigana, Senior Advisor at the Sustainable Development Office of Polytechnique Montréal
Each ingredient can be associated with a carbon footprint per gram. In total, we make an overall carbon footprint of the dish in question.
Patrick Cigana, Senior Advisor at the Sustainable Development Office of Polytechnique Montréal
In an analysis conducted by Polytechnique Montréal, researchers had attributed to carnivorous dishes the responsibility for 80% of greenhouse gases (GHG) of all the establishment’s food services. Especially since food represents on average a quarter of the carbon footprint of a Quebecer, estimates the International Reference Center for Life Cycle Analysis and Sustainable Transition (CIRAIG), affiliated with Polytechnique Montreal.
Earlier this month, the kitchen served a B-rated coconut milk dhal, stuffed vegetables and a chorizo and prune roast turkey dish, both rated C+.
PHOTO MARTIN CHAMBERLAND, THE PRESS
In an analysis conducted by Polytechnique, the researchers had attributed to carnivorous dishes the responsibility for 80% of the GHGs of all the establishment’s food services.
It makes you think and sometimes surprises. In sustainable development, there are often things that are counter-intuitive and there are a lot of false good ideas. It’s really an educational project too.
Patrick Cigana
Some students, however, admitted to prioritizing the price of meals over the carbon footprint. The fact remains that the initiative is well received by the student community. “It’s interesting to know what we consume and to see that there is an effort that is made at least on the reflection, launches Khelin Joudan, in the line towards the checkout. If I see something rated D, I won’t take it. »
“In an ideal world, it should be like that everywhere,” adds William Voghel. “In itself, the initiative as it is, it’s too good,” adds her friend Joséphine Jouslin, who nevertheless denounces the use of compostable plates, in the absence of reusable dishes.
Quantify GHG Supply
The recipes from the Polytechnique Montréal cafeteria were sent to CIRAIG, which then precisely calculated the environmental impact of each ingredient.
“We start from the production of food right through to their processing at Polytechnique,” emphasizes François Saunier, Deputy Director General of the research center. Thus, the entire life cycle of the meal is considered, from production to transport to packaging and, finally, from processing to cooking.
Patrick Cigana was surprised by the smaller carbon footprint of a white meat parmentier—poultry being known to emit few GHGs—compared to a vegetable focaccia au gratin, whose balance sheet was weighed down by the cheese.
“We could expand to other environmental and social issues to develop a more complete indicator,” says François Saunier, however.
Carole-Anne Lapierre, agriculture and food systems analyst at Équiterre, points out that the CIRAIG indicator does not take into account “support for the local economy”, the impact of agriculture on land use planning, as well as “human rights aspects”.
Équiterre nonetheless welcomes Polytechnique Montréal’s pilot project, which is “very well done,” says Carole-Anne Lapierre. “It’s a very interesting initiative, as it helps educate eaters on the impact of what ends up on our plate. »
The specialist suggests that we mainly consume plant products, local and seasonal, which are minimally processed and packaged, in order to minimize the ecological footprint of our diet. “You don’t have to go crazy either, it’s a learning process. You can see it as a challenge,” she says.