Eaternity - a student project for more sustainable food behaviour Text by Laura Burger and Salome Schori, ETH Zurich (Switzerland) In European countries, one third of the consumer related greenhouse gases are generated through food consumption. This is a greater contribution than the transport and mobility sector. Food related emissions can be reduced by 50% by shifting to a ÂŤclimate friendlyÂť diet. Eaternity is a student project launched to increase awareness within the student community about the positive effect that a reasonable diet can have on the climate. The project is organized in different parts to ensure proper follow-up.
Figure 1: Of the greenhouse gases from consumer goods 31% are related to food. The large share comes from meat and eggs (12%) and milk products (5%). The core piece of the Eaternity project is the website www.eaternity.ethz.ch. It provides background information on food related emissions and suggestions on what we can do to reduce our own food related emissions. Integrated in the website is also a CO 2Calculator (http://rechner.eaternity.ch/ ), which enables to estimate the green-house gasses related to specific ingredients and some selected meals such as Hamburger or Pasta with Tomato Sauce. The Emission values of the ingredients are based on various carefully researched scientific studies. To promote the Eaternity project a collaboration with the university cafeteria was launched. In collaboration with the food service company that manages the cafeteria of ETHZ, Eaternity offers for a certain period of time a climate-friendly meal, which is conceived in a way to save in an average 670g CO 2-equivalent compared to a standard
meal, i.e. 65% less emissions than a meat containing meal. The principles followed for the menu selection are: 1. Product choice: vegetarian rather than containing meat. 2. Seasonal products: no long storing required, no need for growing products in glas houses. 3. Regional products: reduces transport, no freezing required. Beside causing less green house gas emissions, the meal also aim at being healthy and tasty. Eaternity campaign: Flyers and posters were printed and spread in the university to increase the awareness of the students on the project.
Figure 2: An example of the Eaternity meal: Spaghetti Pesto Genovese with grilled vegetable and seasonal salad (http://www.ethlife.ethz.ch/archive_articles/091125_eaternity_lul/091125_eaternity_l_2.jpg?hires)
Sources: www.eaternity.ethz.ch http://www.ethlife.ethz.ch/archive_articles/091125_eaternity_lul/index