New article in PLOS CLIMATE on how to manipulate you.
I know, I know. They don’t mention the bugs in this one. But it’s obviously where this is headed.
How can carbon labels and climate-friendly default options on restaurant menus contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions associated with dining?
Here is the abstract:
In this study, we aimed to understand how restaurants can contribute to climate change mitigation via menu design. We investigated two types of interventions: changing the configuration of menu entries with variable side dishes so that the most climate-friendly option is set as the default and indicating the greenhouse gas emission of each dish via carbon labels. In an online simulation experiment, 265 participants were shown the menus of nine different restaurants and had to choose exactly one dish per menu. In six menus, the main dishes were presented with different default options: the side dish was associated either with the highest or with the lowest greenhouse gas emissions.
The other three menus consisted of unitary dishes for which the default rules did not apply. All menus were presented either with or without carbon labels for each dish option. The results indicated that more climate-friendly dish choices resulting in lower greenhouse gas emissions were made with the low-emission than the high-emission default condition, and when carbon labels were present rather than absent. The effects of both interventions interacted, which indicates that the interventions partly overlap with regard to cognitive predecessors of choice behavior, such as attentional focus and social norms.
The results suggest that the design of restaurant menus has a considerable effect on the carbon footprint of dining.
And excerpts from EurekAlert! Press Release
Menus for climate-friendly food choices
UNIVERSITY OF WÜRZBURG
The fact that a beef steak is significantly worse for the climate than a tofu schnitzel has probably become common knowledge by now. After all, cows are considered an enormous burden on the climate and a driving force for climate change, among other things because of their methane emissions. Nevertheless, Germans still consume an average of 55 kilograms of meat per year – according to the evaluation of the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture for the year 2021.
Scientists at the Julius-Maximilians-Universität of Würzburg (JMU) have now investigated the extent to which restaurants can contribute to curbing the climate crisis by redesigning their menus. Specifically, the question was whether colour-coded information about the greenhouse gas emissions of dishes – so-called CO2 labels – and a changed standard option for dishes with interchangeable side dishes nudge guests to more climate-friendly dish choices.
And, of course, it’s the right thing to do for all the socially conscious reasons.
According to the psychologists, an important finding from this study is that people are obviously willing and able to consider the pressing problem of the climate crisis even in small everyday decisions such as ordering a meal. “This is by no means self-evident when we consider that in a restaurant we enjoy the food, the atmosphere and the get-together with others, so we do not want to think about existential threats like the climate crisis,” says Seger.
From a psychological point of view, the decision for climate-friendly food is not unexpected: “We assume that CO2 labels and changed standards convey certain social norms. After all, the imperative to emit as little carbon dioxide as possible is now established in large parts of the population,” explains Seger. Thus, when a restaurant discloses the CO2 emissions of the dishes it offers, guests realise that this standard also applies to food choices in restaurants. This is all the more true if these are additionally emphasised by corresponding colours: red for a lot of CO2, green for little greenhouse gas.
Social norms influence behaviour
“If a restaurant highlights the vegetable patty instead of the meat patty as a standard option in its burger menu, it communicates: ‘Guests at this restaurant usually order the veggie burger.’ In psychology, we call this a descriptive norm,” says Seger. This presumed knowledge of what others do in a certain situation – regardless of whether it is desired or accepted – can have a significant influence on behaviour.
Accordingly, Seger’s message to restaurant operators is: “Have the courage to include CO2 labels and different standard options in your menu. This way you can contribute to climate protection without having to change your offer fundamentally.”
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My reaction to greens telling me to eat bugs would be to want a meal of baby harp seal, chosen for having particularly winsome eyes. If they are really into asceticism, let them go first.
My uncle in Mass. used to call lobsters – Bugs
I could deal with that … Yum Yum ……
Not the only one for sure.
Insects have 6 legs.
Spiders have 8 legs, Arachnids, as are scorpions, ticks and others.
Lobsters have ten legs, decapods. Along with shrimp and others.
Bugs. All bugs.
Shrimp……… mmmmmmm! Bugs!
Actually, true bugs are a class of insects, the Hemiptera. Things like stink bugs.
Order of insects.
I know all too well. I graduated with a degree in Biology.
Things like this are the #1 reason I went into Chemistry.
Cajuns call Crawfish “mudbugs” and in the springtime they chow down on them like there is no tomorrow.
This Hoosier does too when he can get them.
Crawfish boil tomorrow!
Lobsters are bottom scavengers, and we all know what lies at the bottom. No thanks.
But the lobsters have thoroughly reprocessed it!
I guess you don’t eat cat fish, flounder, or halibut either? How about tilapia? At fish farms they clean the tanks after the sea bass have been harvested.
If you think of a lobster as a giant cockroach, then it’s not so bad.
We have some shellfish in Australia known as “bugs”. The Balmain Bug, the Moreton Bay Bug…delicious! I’ll eat them anytime they’re offered.
A delicacy in Australia are Sydney Harbour “Balmain Bugs”, Balmain being a Harbourside suburb where the Bugs were apparently first caught by early settlers.
They are much smaller than Lobster or Crayfish, but much larger than King Prawns and are dark green in colour.
Witchetty Grub
One of the best know bush foods it is also one of the more elusive. The grub is the larva of a moth and generally only found in central Australia. They can be found in the root system of the Witchetty Bush although not every bush will yield them. They have also been known to be found in the Bloodwood Tree.
The taste is similar to scrambled eggs.
so…tastes like chicken! just in egg form!
So, the new fad diet will be based on CO2?
does that include travel to the eatery?
pure insanity!
does that include travel to the eatery?
Surrender your weapons now-
Shift to renewables to avoid energy being ‘weaponised’, John Kerry urges (msn.com)
40oz Tomahawk steak at once please! With a side of bacon!
You’ve gotta have some sour cream and real butter with a bit of baked potato for flavor. Don’t neglect your dairy!
Pro tip: Skip the baked potato and just go for the sour cream and butter if you’re feeling a bit full.
Or if you’re going low carb/keto/carnivore.
A curious question, inquiring minds wish to know… how much more C02 comes from the cow eating the grass as opposed to letting it(the grass) naturally decompose?
Carbon cycles with different timeframes.
Not realy. Depends on climate (“climate” the real thing, not what is in “climate science TM”). As all living activities.
Microbes which are adapted to relatively high temperature (say: temperate-hot climates) with enough moisture will decompose grass as fast, or faster, as when it is eaten by a cow.
Never mind CO2, we can fret about methane, instead. Termites are by far the largest methane producers on the planet. The warmists go on constantly about cows and methane. Yet nobody goes on and on about termites destroying the planet.
Curious how that works.
Nobody pays nevermind to termites until it’s their wooden leg that the termites devour. Then listen to them complain!
“&%$#!@ur momisugly!! TERMITES! Those little bastards!!”
That could be a matter of apinion.
Ian, you should be ashamed of yourself!
A primal termite knocked on wood,
And tasted it and found it good,
And that is why your Auntie May,
Fell through the parlour floor today.
But a friend of mine ate locusts and honey during Marine Commando traning and says they are delicious, just that the supply is not regular.
Those termites also have methanogen bacteria in their gut working symbiotically with them.
I guess it depends on whether the grass naturally decomposes in anaerobic conditions in the presence of methanogen bacteria. And…those little guys exist all over (under?) the surface of the planet. Not to mention their relatives who live in the oceans.
Anyone who thinks we’re headed for a “hothouse earth” and who isn’t eating bugs, is a hypocrite.
When a waiter hands you the menu, ask for the manager. Politely tell the manager you are leaving his restaurant and why. Don’t go to fast-food joints that do this. Maybe they’ll get the message. Disney and school boards are learning the hard way that all Americans aren’t pussies to be pushed around.
Politely tell the manager
’round here, I don’t think there would be any “politely”
Don’t go to fast-food joints that do this.
Arby’s has the meats. And they seem pretty unapologetic about it.
I’d always choose steak over tofu.
BUT bugs are fine if they are gastronomically acceptable. A major factor in my tofu/steak choice is palatability and taste and dining experience. If the bugs can match that they’d be fine, all else being equal (or better).
I’m quite partial to bugs myself-
MORETON BAY BUGS 2020 (fish.gov.au)
A-and…Balmain Bugs, with butter! omnom…
Tofu is fine if you like eating drywall coated with fermented estrogen.
Soy’s also toxic, unless fermented.
Mind you, they’ll probably need us to eat silicates once we’ve been transhumanised. I’m sure drywall with enough garlic butter is quite…erm, no.
I guess sparkling water and carbonated beverages are out of the question.
Not at all. Just wear a face diaper when you burp, and the morons writing the menu will call it carbon capture and storage. After all, they think a fabric mask can capture a coronavirus. A magic molecule of CO2 just needs some pixie dust to counteract it, and your entire meal becomes carbon neutral.
Where I come from bugs means crayfish but I bet these w@ur momisugly$kers woyuld not see it that way . Answer to restaurants trying this shit on is to bring a pre pack lunch then they get nothing
“interchangeable side dishes nudge guests”
They with their dictator ambitions are becoming clear. We now see constant examples of the use of psychology to try to nudge people into the desired behavior. When it does not work well enough or fast enough, the nudge becomes a shove, and finally a government decree.
Exactly my thoughts. And, if the government doesn’t do it first, then the WEF, BlackRock, Bill Gates, etc, will price meat out of the market so that the only option is bugs, tofu, and other trash foods.
A paywalled article in today’s [London] Daily Telegraph suggests the BlackRock Dollars Matter mob are possibly seeing the light –
‘World’s largest fund abandons green activism over Russia fears’ is the headline.
It’ll vote against ‘most’ shareholder green activism for being too extreme.
Is a light dawning on – some of – these numpties?
Auto
Lets hope so
How about we eat politicians instead?
That way we’ll solve two problems at once.
This post in no way advocates violence—it’s satire
Yes, bugs have a yuck factor. But moving on, what do bugs taste like? Are they delicious? MEH? Awful? Do they taste just like chicken (probably not). I’d probably try some, just to see what they taste like. BTW, a few years ago, I bought some Chirp Chips. They have cricket “remains” mixed in with the normal chip mix. Actually, they were pretty good, and I’d probably buy some again, if they weren’t so danged expensive.
You just ain’t hungry enough yet!
And when you are hungry enough, its good to know that all insects are edible.
I’m told most taste like nuts. Only with wings & exoskeletons that stick in your throat – like when my dawg eating sprats.
Nuts to them.
I expect fresh maggots are a bit less crunchy.
How will the crops get pollinated after we eat all the bugs?
The Law of Unintended Consequences strikes again.
I’d probably leave the restaurant without ordering (depending on how hungry I was) and I definitely would not go there a second time. I go to restaurants to have a good meal, not to be lectured or signal my virtue.
i hate that trick..
your carbon footprint is associated with all your lifestyle… and all your interaction with the society you r living in if not the world.
the rich giving the poor lessons of poverty…
As Euell Gibbons once said, “Did you ever eat a pine tree? Many parts are edible.”
Of course today, eating pine trees is seen as an abomination, due to cap and trade policies, but eating termites should solve global warming.
Euelle never recommended eating termites. But termites emit massive quantities of CO2, so I think the greenies would go for it.
One other thing to keep in mind is that Euelle died at 64 from a ruptured aortic aneurysm , so you might want to take his diet recommendations with a pound of salt.
pine nuts however are delicious and from the days as a kid when they were ignored and we could gather n pig out, theyre now a delicacy and hugely costly!
Pine needle tea is ok.
A side of pine needles with a turpentine chaser? 😉
‘The fact that a beef steak is significantly worse for the climate than a tofu schnitzel….”
The very concept of a “tofu schnitzel” is clear evidence of deep insanity. These people are severely unbalanced and should be shunned at all costs.
“‘The fact that a beef steak is significantly worse for the climate than a tofu schnitzel….””
Actually, that is a lie.
Beef puts out no more “carbon ” than it takes in. It is chemically impossible.
Cattle are “carbon neutral”
And CO2 has no measurable affect on the climate anyway.
My wife has two nice porterhouse steaks marinating right now. That’s dinner tonight along with a toss salad and baked potato. BTW they’ll be grilled over a source of carbon rich fuel too.
They’re wasting their time on me
Will the Food and Drug Administration (and equivalents worldwide) increase their bureaucracy footprints to establish CO2 measuring standards for food preparation? How is the carbon footprint of a hamburger calculated? What’s to prevent restaurants from simply making up “CO2 labels” to get in on the virtue signaling bandwagon?
And when will the government eliminate its standards for food safety, which place limits on the allowable density of “insect parts” in various foods? And maybe restaurant inspectors should stop complaining about insect infestations in kitchens.
Customer: “Oooo, I love the rice pudding at that place. It has raisins in it.”
–
–
Health Inspector: “Those weren’t raisins in the rice pudding.”
Health Inspector: “Those weren’t raisins in the rice pudding. Those were locally sourced(!) carbon-footprint-reducing cockroaches!”
Ahhhhh! Bless!
Auto
Looking at these comments, the WUWT readership is pretty switched on to what’s being peddled here, but then that’s to be expected – these are people who ask questions.
The idea that ruminants (cattle and sheep) add CO2 to the atmosphere is false. These animals eat only vegetable material (grass, hay, some root crops). All these crops derive all their cellular cellulose material (with carbon as the root atom) from CO2 in the atmosphere, through photosynthesis. The majority of the carbon is converted into muscle, fat, blood or bone. Some is expelled in urine and faeces. A small proportion only is expelled as CO2 or CH4 and the CH4 is rapidly reduced to CO2 and H2O. Cattle and sheep are carbon sinks, not carbon producers.
I’ve eaten a fried bug when holidaying in Asia. Try anything once, smelled like 1 week old work socks and super starchy, no thanks.
It’s like these scorpions or tarantulas on a stick. I think they sell them just for tourists. They are horrible.
Happer and Wjingaarden’s study which quite conclusively found that methane has an undetectably small contribution to global warming has yet to sink in. It’s very hard to change religious convictions.
Nah, I’ll stick to what the Rev suggests.
Reverend Horton Heat – Eat Steak – YouTube
what an absolute load of bollocks!
eateries might well do it because? they can sell veggies n grains at the price of meat.
i dont eat out BUT if I did I would be leaving as soon as they presented the menu marked like that