Environmental Impact Calculator for Various Recipes: Foodprint
The Foodprint platform, a groundbreaking tool developed by Nutritics, has been making waves in the culinary world and beyond. Funded by the European Union's Life Programme as part of the European Life Climate Smart Chefs project, Foodprint promotes a diet that is primarily plant-based and close to the Mediterranean diet.
The project, which concluded in December 20XX, resulted in the development of Foodprint. It was initially designed for chef training, but its reach has expanded significantly since then. Over the past three years, Foodprint has been used by over 2,000 chefs across the globe.
The Foodprint platform calculates the environmental impact of recipes and foods by using a comprehensive and configurable approach. It assesses the environmental and social footprints of foods and diets by integrating multiple key sustainability indicators such as carbon footprint, biodiversity loss, animal welfare, and antibiotic use. The platform covers a wide range of food items, from raw commodities to composite foods and meals, and allows users to customize parameters including food waste levels, countries of origin, recipes, and emission factors to conduct detailed scenario analyses of dietary impacts and mitigation strategies.
While other platforms estimate food climate impacts by extracting ingredient information from images or nutritional data and assigning carbon footprints to individual ingredients, Foodprint's strength lies in its multi-dimensional sustainability indicators and ability to evaluate both environmental and social dimensions of food and diet sustainability holistically within a single, user-configurable framework.
In addition to calculating environmental impacts, Foodprint offers features for creating sustainable and healthy menus by enabling assessments of entire diets rather than individual products. Its configurability supports users in adjusting dietary patterns to improve sustainability outcomes. The tool's comprehensive indicators and customizable settings facilitate informed decision-making around sustainable food choices and healthier dietary transitions.
A study published by the Barilla Foundation in 2022 shows a correlation between a nutrient-poor diet and cardiovascular diseases. The Foodprint tool can help in creating more sustainable and healthy menus, including on festive days. By choosing a diet that mitigates the incidence of these diseases, one can reduce its carbon footprint by over 48%.
In a future update, the tool will suggest alternative ingredients with equal nutritional values to reduce environmental impact. Users can register on the Foodprint platform to check the environmental impact of various foods and upload up to 25 of their own recipes. The tool will also highlight other actions to reduce environmental and health impact, such as consuming seasonal fruits and vegetables.
The Foodprint database consists of hundreds of ingredients from Mediterranean, European, and worldwide sources. The tool is now accessible to the general public, making sustainable and healthy eating more accessible and convenient for everyone. The achievements of Foodprint were presented at a conference held at the Nhow Hotel in Milan, where awards were given for "Best Sustainable Restaurant", "Best Sustainable Recipe", and "Best Non-Profit Initiative".
In summary, Foodprint is a practical calculator for assessing the environmental impact of recipes and foods. By using the platform, individuals and chefs can make informed decisions about their dietary choices, contributing to a more sustainable and healthier world.
- Foodprint, a tool developed by Nutritics, promotes a primarily plant-based diet that is close to the Mediterranean diet, with the goal of reducing environmental impacts.
- Over the past three years, the Foodprint platform has been used by over 2,000 chefs globally to calculate the environmental impact of their recipes and menu items.
- Foodprint's strength lies in its multi-dimensional sustainability indicators, which assess not only carbon footprint but also biodiversity loss, animal welfare, and antibiotic use.
- In addition to calculating environmental impacts, Foodprint helps users create sustainable and healthy menus by evaluating entire diets, supporting healthier dietary transitions, and suggesting alternatives with equal nutritional values to reduce environmental impact.
- Foodprint is now accessible to the general public, offering sustainable and healthy eating options for everyone, while being highlighted at conferences for its contributions to the culinary world and beyond, specifically in promoting sustainable and healthy lifestyles.
