Can carbon labels encourage green food choices?

Introduction: A conventionally grown kiwi from Spain or an organic pineapple from Ghana? Which is the more environmentally friendly option? Given that the production and distribution of food is responsible for about a quarter of our CO₂e emissions and thus plays a role in climate change the answer to such questions and, accordingly, making the right food product choices is crucial. The problem, however, is that it is difficult for consumers to calculate the CO₂e value of food as it depends on several specifications such as the type of food, origin, etc. Could carbon labeling of food circumvent this problem and help consumers make more environmentally friendly choices?

Methods: In an online experiment, 402 participants had to choose 20 food products from a fictitious online shop. The participants were randomly assigned to either one of three food labeling conditions (Star Rating, Green Foot, and Traffic Light Label, short TLL) or the control condition.

Results: The labeling conditions resulted in lower overall CO₂e emissions, the purchase of more green food products and fewer red food products than in the control condition. The TLL outperformed the other two labels and was also the most accepted.

Discussion: The carbon TLL is therefore a promising intervention to help consumers to not only choose more environmentally friendly foods, but also make a significant contribution to the fight against climate change.