Improving Food Eco-Efficiency in Canadian Food Services: Conceptualizing Meals with Low Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Reduced Waste and Balanced Nutritional Quality

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According to the IPCC, the gross emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) represent one-third of the total global GHG emissions. Among the options to significantly reduce these emissions are dietary changes and limiting food waste. However, knowledge about GHG emissions issued from the diets and food waste of the Canadian foodservice industry is still scarce while the consumption of food away from home represents a sizeable proportion of total food intake. This information lack hampers the development and application of strategies to reduce GHGs. The current project aims at investigating the GHGs emissions of foods provided by the Canadian foodservice industry (in partnership with Sodexo and in collaboration with ITHQ, Université Laval and Cégep Garneau), the eco-efficiency of current menus (combination of GHGs and nutritional quality) served in different food service settings, the GHGs associated with waste generation as well as food service managers' and consumers' perceptions about the integration of eco-efficient meals in the modern Canadian food services. The first phase of the project will consist of an assessment of GHGs, waste, nutritional and economic information of meals served in the studied food services. The second phase will focus on modeling the strategies allowing the creation of more eco-efficient meals, having lower GHGs and waste as well as adequate nutritional quality. Qualitative, semi-directed interviews with a wide array of Canadian food service managers, chefs and staff will be conducted to evaluate barriers and facilitators for the implementation of eco-efficient strategies in each particular setting. The third phase will aim at developing communication tools and an application guide for creating eco-efficient menus in different settings, as well as documenting the effects of information regarding meal eco-efficiency on consumer behavior and choices. In the end, this project will contribute to understanding the GHGs emissions, food waste and nutritional quality of meals within the Canadian food service industry. Moreover, it will provide concrete tools allowing food service managers and consumers to mitigate their GHG emissions by creating and choosing more eco-efficient meals.