Implementing climate menu labels in university settings: A narrative review

Mei-Li Hey¹Elizabeth Crespi¹Ariana Yett¹Daphene Altema-Johnson¹Julia Wolfson^2,3Rebecca Ramsing^1*

• ¹Center for a Livable Future, Department of Environmental Health and Engineering, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, United States
• ²Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of PUblic Health, Baltimore, MD, United States
• ³Department of Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins Bloomber School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, United States

Global food systems are a major contributor to climate change, accounting for more than 30% of greenhouse gas emissions (GHGEs). This review synthesizes current evidence on the potential of climate labels (which we define as labels attached to menus or food items with climate impact information) in university dining settings to encourage climate-friendly food decisions. In April 2024, we searched Scopus, ProQuest, Web of Science, and PubMed using developed terms related to climate labels and universities. We identified 280 articles and narrowed down the review to 14 articles based on study setting, language, and scope. Of the 14 studies, 86% (12 articles) observed a decrease in the consumption of foods researchers classified as high emissions, 60% (8 articles) observed a decrease in the consumption of foods classified as medium-emission foods, and 63% (9 articles) observed an increase in the consumption of foods classified as low-emission food. Effects varied by gender and age, with women appearing to experience a greater response to the climate labels, but no observable differences were evident by ethnicity or socio-economic class. Studies that supplemented climate labelling initiatives with sales promotions or resources encouraging consumers to conduct their own emission research also saw favorable results. The studies suggest a small yet detectable shift in consumer behavior in response to climate labels in university dining settings; however, further research is needed on: (1) improving climate label effectiveness, (2) the effect of climate labels among different demographic attributes (e.g., income, ethnicity), and (3) the long-term and spillover effects of the labels on the healthiness of consumer diets, and institutional sourcing practices.1 While there are other metrics for environmental sustainability (e.g. water pollution, soil health, and land use), GHGE is one of the most widely used based on its direct link to climate change and alignment with environmental policies.[2] 2 CO2e is a standard unit for measuring the global warming potential of different greenhouse gases, that expresses the impact of various greenhouse gases in terms of the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) that would produce the same warming effect.