We’ll make you eat the bug farmer, one way or another – Are you enjoying it?

New article on PLOS CLIMATE on how to manipulate it.

I already know. They don’t mention the error in this one. But it’s clearly where this is headed.

How can carbon labels and default climate-friendly options on restaurant menus contribute to reducing dining-related greenhouse gas emissions?

Here is the summary:

In this study, we aimed to find out how restaurants can contribute to climate change mitigation through menu design. We investigated two types of interventions: changing the configuration of menu items with different side dishes so that the most climate-friendly option was set as default and indicate the greenhouse gas emissions of each dish through carbon label. In an online simulation test, 265 participants were shown the menus of nine different restaurants and had to choose exactly one dish from each menu. In the six menus, main dishes are presented with different default options: side dishes are associated with the highest or lowest greenhouse gas emissions.

The other three menus consist of single dishes for which no default rules apply. All menus are presented with or without a carbon label for each dish option. The results indicate that more climate-friendly food choices that lead to lower greenhouse gas emissions are made with lower emissions than under the high-emissions default condition and when carbon labels are available. not no. The effects of both interventions interact with each other, which suggests that the interventions somewhat overlap in terms of cognitive precursors of choice behavior, such as attentional focus and norms. social ink.

The results show that the design of the restaurant menu has a significant effect on the carbon footprint of the dining operation.

And excerpts from EurekAlert! Press Release

Menu for climate-friendly food options

Peer-reviewed publications

University of WRZBURG

The fact that a steak has a significantly worse climate than a tofu schnitzel has probably been common knowledge by now. After all, cows are seen as a huge burden on the climate and a driver of climate change, among other things due to their methane emissions. However, Germans still consume an average of 55 kg of meat per year – according to the assessment of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food for 2021.

Scientists at the Julius-Maximilians-Universität of Würzburg (JMU) have now studied the extent to which restaurants can help limit the climate crisis by redesigning their menus. In particular, the question is whether color-coded information about the greenhouse gas emissions of dishes – so-called CO2₂ labels – and a changed standard option for dishes with interchangeable side dishes, pushing guests towards more climate-friendly food options.

And, of course, it’s the right thing to do for all of the socially conscious reasons.

According to psychologists, a key finding from this study is that people are clearly willing and able to consider the urgency of the climate crisis even in small everyday decisions like calling a climate crisis. meal. “This is by no means obvious when we think that in a restaurant we enjoy the food, the atmosphere and get together with other people, so we don’t want to think about relationships,” says Seger. existential threats such as the climate crisis.

From a psychological point of view, the decision about climate-friendly food is not unexpected: “We assume that CO₂ Labels and changing standards convey certain social norms. After all, the requirement to emit as little carbon dioxide as possible is now established in a large part of the population,” explains Seger. Therefore, when a restaurant discloses CO₂ emissions of the dishes it provides, guests find that this standard also applies to food choices in restaurants. This is all the more true if they are further emphasized by their respective colors: red for more CO₂green because of less greenhouse gases.

Social norms influence behavior

“If a restaurant highlights veggie patties instead of meat as a standard option on its burger menu, it will announce: ‘Customers at this restaurant often order pie. veggie burgers.’ In psychology, we call this a descriptive norm,” says Seger. This presumptive knowledge of what others do in a given situation – regardless of whether that is desired or accepted – can have a significant effect on behavior.

Accordingly, Seger’s message to restaurant operators is: “Have the courage to bring CO₂ labels and various standard options in your menu. This way, you can contribute to climate protection without having to fundamentally change your offer.”