Life cycle assessment of food catering menus in a university canteen located in Southern Italy

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is acknowledged to be suited for the assessment of the energy-environmental burdens of foods, which are estimated to be overall one of the main impact sources worldwide. A right nutrition is even more fundamental for the healthy growing of the population, which has now, however, to consider ever more the aspect connected to its environmental impact. Under this perspective, this study aims at exploring the environmental burdens associated with a local university canteen for students through the application of LCA to a set of meal combination scenarios offered weekly to consumers. For the assessment, the authors designed a set of eight meal alternatives to create four daily meal combinations (DMCs), assuming 150 customers frequent the canteen service daily. Sixteen DMC scenarios based on a 1-to-3 weekly offer frequency have been tested. Results show the environmental impacts are highly affected by the food content and the weekly offer frequency, with the largest contributions coming when higher frequencies are combined with more impactful foods in the menus. The study highlights, overall, that global warming, eutrophication, acidification, and the depletion of the abiotic elements are the most relevant indicators for such an evaluation. The study aims at building a more sustainable and resilient future for the planet, starting with producing and consuming foods that are ecologically responsible, fair and accessible, local, healthy and safe, and waste free.