Open Food Facts & World Environment Day
On this World Environment Day, the Open Food Facts team wanted to celebrate the event!
First, a few details:
What is World Environment Day? ☘️
Every year since 1973, the United Nations has organised an annual event to raise public awareness of environmental issues. With climate change and the importance of limiting global warming, every gesture is a step forward.
The 2024 edition of World Environment Day focuses on restoring land, stopping desertification and building resilience. #GenerationRestoration
What’s the link with Open Food Facts?
According to figures provided by the French General Commissariat for Sustainable Development, every year each French person generates 2.1 tonnes of CO2 equivalent in greenhouse gas emissions from food alone (i.e. 25% of the French citizen’s carbon footprint).
On a more global scale, the carbon footprint of food represents 22%, just behind transport (30%) and housing (23%).
Improving our footprint is no simple matter, as there are many factors involved: extraction of foodstuffs, energy consumption for industrial processes, transport, etc., all of which we don’t always have a say in (or do we?).
So what can I do?
These figures may seem frightening, but they don’t have to be, because it is possible to consume better. 🍽
Every time we eat (around 1,000 meals a year), it’s an opportunity to have a positive impact on the planet. To do this, since 2021, we’ve been helping you with your choices by displaying the Eco-Score on our website and app.
What is the Eco-Score?
The Eco-Score is a coloured score displaying a score between A (very low impact) and E (very high impact) which encompasses 15 environmental impacts. If you want to know how it’s calculated, we’ve got a page explaining it.
But without hesitation, doing your bit for the environment means choosing products with an Eco-Score as close to A as possible.
Eco-Score figures at Open Food Facts
Since 2021, we have been automatically calculating the Eco-Score on the products in the Open Food Facts database. As such, we wanted to take advantage of this day to show you the commitment of our project over time.
But first and foremost, calculating this score would not be possible without the thousands of contributors who provide data to the gigantic Open Food Facts database 🙌.
So these figures are also those of all our contributors.
It’s only the beginning
As with the Nutri-Score, this rating has a dual purpose: to inform consumers and to encourage manufacturers to improve their rating by improving their production process.
As a result, contributions to the Open Food Facts database are not limited to a purely nutritional aspect, but help to raise awareness of the environmental impact of food.
We need you !
As part of World Environment Day, we’re inviting the whole world to contribute by playing Hunger Games.
An entry on our forum is also available for discussions between participants.
Happy contributions!
Bonne contribution !