Bristol restaurant becomes first in Britain to add carbon emissions to menu

A vegetarian restaurant in Bristol has become the first in Britain to add carbon emissions to its menu, so customers can see the environmental cost of each meal.

The Canteen wants to help their customers stay informed about the global impact of their food choices by listing the carbon footprint of every dish, as well as its ingredients and price.

The footprint includes the distance the ingredients travelled, seasonality of ingredients, and emissions during production.

The meal with the highest carbon footprint on the current menu is vegan dish “Miso and harissa aubergine, za'atar brittle, courgette baba ganoush & tabbouleh”.

It costs £8.50 and measures 674g CO2.

The lowest on the menu is a sharing plate of beetroot and carrot pakora with coriander yoghurt – measuring just 16g CO2.

It all started when The Canteen were approached by UK's leading vegan charity, Viva!, which asked if restaurant managers wanted be part of an initiative that sees the carbon footprint of meals calculated and evident to see on its menu.

Anna Blightman, Canteen marketing manager, explained: “Our head chef, Matt, went through the whole menu - and it was then sent off to MyEmissions - a food carbon footprint calculator.