Assessment of the environmental footprint of food and beverages at KaM CU












            ******************************************************************************************

            *
            ******************************************************************************************


            At Charles University, we set out to determine what share of the university’s overall envi
            footprint is represented by food services and, in particular, whether these impacts can be
            measured and monitored over the long term. Until now, there had been no unified approach t

            the environmental burden of university catering operations to be regularly assessed and co

            Funding from the Zelené dovednosti na UK (Green Skills at CU) project, supported within th

            of the National Recovery Plan (NPO-UK-MSMT-2114/2024-4), therefore came at the right time 
            researchers from the Charles University Environment Centre to begin this work. The Troja C

            selected as the pilot facility, and a methodology assessing seven areas of environmental i
            using its complete purchasing data for 2024: carbon footprint, land and water use, nitroge
            inputs, pesticide use, and impacts on biodiversity.


            For any firther questions, please contact the author of the research, Ing. Eva Kupcová
            (eva.kupcova@czp.cuni.cz).





            ******************************************************************************************
            * 4 interesting insights from the research
            ******************************************************************************************

            Food purchases at Troja Canteen generated approximately 293 tonnes of CO?e in 2024.

            Only three food categories accounted for 71% of the carbon footprint: meat, ready-made and

            and milk/eggs/dairy products/alternative products.

            Beef has a disproportionately high impact; only about 1.45 tonnes of beef were purchased, 

            footprint amounted to approximately 46 tonnes of CO?e (for comparison, 4.4 tonnes of chick
            only around 9.6 tonnes of CO?e).


            The environmental impact per kilogram is not the only important factor; the overall quanti
            Pizza was among the significant items mainly because the canteen purchased 4.55 tonnes of 




            ******************************************************************************************

            * Environmental Footprint Assessment Methodology
            ******************************************************************************************
            The methodology was designed to demonstrate the environmental impact of food and beverages

            for catering facilities at Charles University. Put simply, it was based on data showing ho
            individual food item was purchased over a given period, usually one year, and linked these
            on their environmental impacts from the SAFAD database.Based on the quantities purchased, 

            then calculated impacts in seven areas, such as greenhouse gas emissions, land and water u
            phosphorus loading, pesticide use, and biodiversity loss. The results could help identify 
            food had the greatest environmental impact, compare individual catering operations, and mo

            over time. In this form, the methodology assessed only purchased food and beverages and di
            other factors such as energy consumed during food preparation, water consumption, or the a
            generated by catering operations.

                                 Method (only in Czech) [ URL "SUSEN-185-version1-
                         metodika_vypoctu_environmentalni_stopy_stravovacich_zarizeni_final.pdf"]




            ******************************************************************************************

            * Pilot Testing Report of the Methodology: Troja Canteen in 2024
            ******************************************************************************************
            The report summarizes the pilot testing of the methodology using complete procurement data

            Troja Canteen for 2024. It presents results for seven categories of environmental impacts,
            main sources of environmental burden, and provides recommendations for further development
            implementation of the methodology across Charles University.

             Report (only in Czech) [ URL "SUSEN-185-version1-zprava_pilot_es_stravovani_uk_menzatroja

            Implemented with the support of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports and the Nation

            as part of the “Zelené dovednosti na UK" (Green Skills at Charles University) project. (re
            MSMT-2114/2024-4).