Rising environmental costs of importing food to restaurants

A new report ‘The Environmental Sustainability of the British Restaurant Industry: A London Case Study’ has found that the environmental cost of getting food to the restaurant plate is a lot higher than expected.

BSc student Will Brookes questioned 40 restaurants in London to test the knowledge of local produce and the cost to the environment of importing food ingredients.

Brookes commented: "Everyone knows that importing food inevitable creates more carbon dioxide than locally sourced foodstuffs. But we were stunned to discover that the carbon dioxide produced by meals based on imported ingredients from non-European countries, is on average more than a hundred times higher than that of ingredients produced in Britain."

Using ingredients from non-European countries produces more than five kilograms of CO2 in transport. But food which is locally sourced by green restaurants produces just 51 grams.

Food transport alone accounts for 35% of the UK's total emissions, and the food industry is the third largest contributor.

The study placed the restaurants into four groups; Green, British, European and Non-European. The remaining eateries were grouped according to their 'home country'.

Brookes added: "The UK's reliance on food prepared for the consumer is at an all time high. This puts restaurants in a highly prominent position. The restaurant sector has the potential to be at the forefront of improving the sustainability of our food industry. This of course carries the responsibility of promoting knowledge of seasonal and local produce."

Key recommendations in the report suggest that customers should be able to offset the carbon cost of their meal in the same way that carbon credits can be bought through airlines. A European meal would cost nearly two pence, while customers would have to pay close to eight pence offset a Non European meal.

Dr Nick Mount, from the school of Geography, concludes what the report is suggesting: "The research shows that generally the more expensive your meal is, the lower the carbon footprint."

"It is also important to bear in mind that this study does not set out to attack the restaurants that do not use local foodstuffs. If all restaurants did source locally, the dining experience would be uniform and dull. But what the research clearly points to is the need for regulation and a governing body to make restaurants more sustainable." 

Words: Maria Bracken

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