A popular food chain in Sweden – Max Burgers, which is second-largest to McDonald’s in its area, is taking food labeling to that next level.
Richard Bergfors, CEO of Max Burgers says
…adding the carbon footprint to the chain’s menuboard was a way for the company to be honest about its affect on the environment.
According to an article in Scientific American Magazine, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) report found that with regards to beef production,
…current production levels of meat contribute between 14 and 22 percent of the 36 billion tons of “CO2-equivalent” greenhouse gases the world produces every year.
In layman’s terms:
…producing half a pound of hamburger for someone’s lunch a patty of meat the size of two decks of cards releases as much greenhouse gas into the atmosphere as driving a 3,000-pound car nearly 10 miles.
[A Jeep Cherokee weighs nearly 3,000 lbs… just for visual reference.]
Trying to show its customers that there are yummy alternatives to beef burgers
Max Burgers has rolled out several alternative, climate-friendly burger options, including vegetarian, falafel, and salmon burgers. Since putting carbon dioxide emission counts on the menuboard—an act that made it the first restaurant chain in the world to do so—sales of these types of menu items have gone up 20 percent.
In addition, Max Burger offsets its carbon emissions by planting trees in Africa, uses recycled packaging, and gets its electricity from wind and solar power.
Like it or not, climate change is definitely a big issue that needs to be dealt with. I’m hoping that other countries follow Sweden’s lead.
Bra jobbat Sverige! (Good job Sweden! …thank you Google Translate).
Filed under: Business, Green, Africa, beef, beef burgers, beef production, carbon dioxide emission, carbon foodprint, carbon footprint, climate change, CO2, Environment, FAO, Food, Food and Agriculture Organization, food labeling, google translate, greenhouse gas, Jeep, Jeep Cherokee, Max Burgers, McDonald's, Richard Bergfors, Scientific American magazine, Sverige, Sweden
Maya Reports 
At first I thought this was a crazy idea, but honestly, it’s not a bad idea necessarily. I wonder if there’s any correlation between carbon “food”print (haha) and healthier food (although felafel is really not that healthy).