12.04.2021

Eating Climate-friendly in the Mensa

Teller mit frischem Salatpixabay.com/RitaE

In order to ensure more sustainability in the Mensa, four students from the University of Erfurt are supporting the Studierendenwerk Thüringen with a project. The specific goal: calculating the CO2 footprint of the canteen dishes - in other words, the amount of CO2 emissions that the dishes cause throughout their entire production cycle. With their idea, the students involved in the project would like to trigger a process of reflection among Mensa diners and extend an invitation to them to participate in a sustainable change of their own environment.

In a first step, a suitable software was researched, with which the sustainability of the canteen meals can be tracked. Among other things, criteria such as short transport routes and a (resource-) careful processing of ingredients were taken into account. After extensive research, the students recommended that the Studierendenwerk use the "Eaternity" calculation software.

The first calculations using this software and based on the existing menus show that vegetarian and vegan dishes are significantly more sustainable than dishes with fish or meat. Overall, vegan and vegetarian Mensa dishes already show good climate compatibility. Vegan and vegetarian dishes are also already offered daily in the Mensas in Jena, Erfurt and Ilmenau.

In the future, increased sourcing of food from demonstrably more environmentally friendly criteria is to be incorporated into the production planning of the refectories in order to make them more climate-friendly. A diverse and culinary offer will be maintained, but will enable the guests to pay more attention to their own CO2 balance - an idea that is shared by more and more students.

Source: Studierendenwerk Thüringen