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Das Kochen von Gulasch führt laut Emissionsstudie zu einem der größten CO2-Fußabdrücke in Europa
In the face of the ever-looming threat of climate change, more of us are learning to find ways to adapt our lifestyle to reduce our impact on the environment. COP26 highlighted the conversation on the relationship between our eating habits and our carbon footprints, but are there meals with a carbon footprint so harmful that we should be avoiding them altogether?
Considering a continental lens of various eating habits and cultural traditions, Uswitch.com sought to uncover which popular European meals had the greatest impact on our climate. By using online tool Ahrefs to determine each country’s most popular meal according to monthly Google searches, and calculating their respective carbon footprints with the My Emissions Food Carbon Footprint Calculator, they can now reveal all!
Uswitch.com can reveal that Bulgarian Moussaka leaves the greatest carbon footprint of the most popular meals across Europe, emitting an esimtaed 12,000 grams of carbonper portion. Cooking this European specialty is the equivalent to driving over 47 kilometers, and is 293% more than an individual’s Percent of Fair Daily Food Emissions (%FDFE). With 90% of the moussaka’s carbon footprint being attributed to beef, it means that transitioning to a meat-free alternative reduces its CO2 emissions to just 1,561g per serving- a 96.7% decrease!
Belgium’s traditional Stoofvlees - another beef-centric dish - takes second place. Emitting 11,200 grams of CO2, this Belgian stew has the same amount of beef per portion as the Bulgarian moussaka, but releases only 6.4% less carbon. Supplementing with a vegetarian alternative can reduce the emissions of Stoofvlees to 750 grams, a 93% decrease of emissions.
Germany’s Gulasch (Goulash) produces 8,055 grams of CO2, 94% of which is a result of steak’s inclusion in the recipe. The equivalent of traveling by train for 196km, this traditional comfort dish is 164% more than the suggested %FDFE, making it the equivalent of over two days of fair carbon emissions used up in just one meal. In the gulasch’s case, a change to a vegetarian beef replacement lowers its carbon footprint to 874g of CO2, an 89% decrease.
The Carbon Footprint of European Christmas Dinners
The Christmas season sees a significant increase in carbon emissions all over the world, and growing food consumption is a noteworthy factor for this. With Europe offering a plethora of traditional meals across the continent, Uswitch.com used the same approach to uncover the classic Christmas centerpieces with the largest carbon footprints.
The top three European Christmas meals with the largest carbon footprint
- Venison, 3,385 g CO2
- Sausages with Sauerkraut, 1,200 g CO2
- Turkey, 1,032 g CO2e
The top three European Christmas meals with the smallest carbon footprint
- Herring, 270 g CO2
- Cod, 546 g CO2
- Roast Pork, 663 g CO2
Methodology
Uswitch.com/ sought to discover the carbon footprint of the most popular meals in each European country, along with the emissions of popular European Christmas foods, in order to gauge which meals had the greatest impact on the environment.
To focus our study, only countries in the European Union, along with the UK, were selected for analysis of their meal’s carbon footprint.
A seed list on the most popular meals in every European country, along with the most popular Christmas dishes in Europe, was collected from several sources, a list of which can be found here.
All popular dishes from each country were compared through online search engine database Ahrefs in order to determine the single definitive most popular meal of every country in Europe. The most popular meal was selected for analysis regardless of ingredients or relevant course to best reflect the eating habits of their reflective country.
Recipes from BBC Good Food and The Cosylab Recipe Database were employed to establish ingredients and recommended servings for each meal listed.
Utilising this data, the My Emissions calculator was implemented to determine an estimate of the carbon footprint of each meal at its suggested serving, measured in grams of carbon dioxide equivalent (gCO2e). Where exact food types were not available for estimate, a similar substitute was calculated: for instance, pork was selected in replacement of sausages.
When calculating the carbon footprint of Christmas related foods, a serving suggestion recommended by the My Emissions calculator was used for analysis. Due to an unbalanced suggested serving of ham recommended by the calculator, a recommended serving was taken from the US Department of Agriculture.
Countries were ranked by the carbon emissions of their most popular meal, with meals resulting in a higher gCO2e ranking highest.
https://www.uswitch.com/gas-electricity/carbon-footprint-european-food/
