• Bon Appétit’s Online Low Carbon Calculator

    This summer, Carleton’s dinning halls will switch to a new dinning service, Bon Appétit.  Bon Appétit advertises its “food services for a sustainable future”.  While it will be up to Carls to see for themselves just how environmentally sustainable Bon Appetit’s food is, they sure do have a very cool website related to determining the environmental impact of meals.  Simply drag each dish or food item into a digital frying pan and the site will calculate carbon dioxide equivalent points (grams of carbon dioxide equivalent greenhouse gases emitted to put that food on your plate).  I used this handy tool to determine that I can cut my carbon emission in half by choosing a veggie omelet over a meat and cheese omelet.  And, it is very specific.  For example, when selecting fruit you can select whether fruits are seasonal or tropical and when selecting meats, you can specify the cut (deli slices, tenderloin, prime rib, etc).  Through testing out various combinations of food, I learned that a grilled tenderloin beef dinner has one of the largest carbon footprints of all meals.    The sight also includes meal specific tips on how to go on low carbon diet (such as, “lose the cheese on that burger”) 
    To begin exploring the carbon impact of your own diet, check out:
    http://www.eatlowcarbon.org