Rethinking food choices: introducing the Food Sustainability Tool
What if understanding the climate impact of what we eat were simple, actionable, and tailored to your daily habits?
Food systems are responsible for a significant share of greenhouse gas emissions across the European Union. Yet for most people, the environmental impact of their meals remains invisible. The Food Sustainability Tool (FST), developed by researchers at the CMCC Foundation within FOODCLIC, bridges this gap. The tool empowers individuals, educators, businesses, and policymakers to explore, compare, and reduce the environmental footprint of their diets.
The FST is designed to estimate greenhouse gas emissions from food consumption and assess the potential for climate change mitigation through dietary choices, food waste reduction, and local food consumption. Users can identify which aspects of their food habits have the greatest impact on climate and explore different dietary patterns’ effects. Developed specifically in collaboration with the eight city-regions - Aarhus, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Berlin, Brasov, Budapest, Lisbon, and Lucca - the tool can also be applied across all EU countries. It draws on robust scientific data and emission factors to provide accurate, actionable insights.
To ensure broad accessibility, the FST offers two user modes:
Simplified Version – Ideal for citizens, families, teachers, students, canteens, restaurants, NGOs, and policymakers, this version uses pre-compiled data for quick assessments (~5 minutes). It requires minimal time and effort, providing rapid insights that support everyday sustainable food choices.
Advanced Version – Tailored for academics, researchers, nutritionists, dietitians, and food sustainability experts, this mode allows users to customize dietary patterns, specify exact quantities for each food category, and compare multiple scenarios (~10 minutes). The result is highly accurate, personalized assessments of eating habits and actionable recommendations for emission reduction.
By connecting research, policy, and practice, FOODCLIC highlights the role of people in shaping sustainable food systems. At a time when climate action requires both systemic change and individual engagement, the Food Sustainability Tool offers a concrete way to understand and act on the impact of food choices.
🌍 Start exploring today and discover how your meals can help build a more sustainable future.
This blog was written by Simone Beltramino from FoodCLIC partner Foundation Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change (CMCC)
Publishing date:
FOODCLIC. We are connecting people, food, policy & places.
FoodCLIC is a four-year project funded by the EU. The project runs from September 2022 to February 2027. The acronym FoodCLIC stands for 'integrated urban FOOD policies – developing sustainability Co-benefits, spatial Linkages, social Inclusion and sectoral Connections to transform food systems in city-regions
