Food is experience, connection, and fuel at any festival. But it’s also a significant contributor to a festival’s environmental footprint. Behind every portion lies a complex supply chain encompassing farming, transportation and processing that contributes to substantial carbon emissions. According to the Paris Agreement, to limit global warming to 1.5°C, the food system must drastically reduce its emissions.
At festivals, where thousands of dishes are served, we have a unique opportunity to make a real difference. The Green Deal Circular Festivals (GDCF) sets a clear benchmark: an average of 0.35 kg CO₂e per 200 g serving. That’s the climate-aligned portion size that keeps us within planetary boundaries according to WWF. It's essential to recognise that this is only one aspect of the impact, omitting the effects on water & land-use, as well as the use of pesticides.
What does that look like on a menu? The GDCF created food labels to understand the impact of different types of proteins on food, but didn’t give insight into the impact of dishes using various kinds of proteins yet.
This article walks you through the estimated carbon impact of favourite festival dishes, and shows you how to balance your menu with ultra-low-impact stars, crowd-pleasers, and clever swaps. From pricing strategy to food court layout, you’ll get hands-on tools to serve your crowd and be responsible in the same bite.
Let’s transform the food court and crew canteen within the limits of the Earth without losing the soul of the festival.
Why “Go Vegetarian” isn’t a silver bullet.
Swapping every burger for grilled halloumi might seem environmentally friendly, but cheese can carry a higher climate-related impact than chicken. Our CO₂e graphic shows that several vegetarian favourites, such as mac & cheese, and even a cheesy quesadilla, emit more carbon than a chicken satay.
What are the biggest emitters in the food supply chain?
- Dairy & ruminants ⇒ methane + fertiliser + heavy feed
- Fish & shrimp ⇒ diesel-hungry trawlers or feed-intensive farms.
- Processed plant protein uses energy, although it still has a lower impact than animals.
A smart strategy is to examine the environmental impacts of your dishes and curate food court(s) that target an average of 0.35 grams of CO2e per 200-gram dish. This means you can cater dishes with meat, fish, or cheese as a flavour enhancer in limited numbers. Discover a comprehensive guide with 27 example dishes to gain valuable insights and take hands-on steps to achieve a low-carbon menu together with your caterers.
How to reduce the overall impact of your festival food menu?
How to deal with the following menu options?
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Zone
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CO₂e / 200 g
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Examples
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Your Move
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Ultra-Low
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≤ 0.20 kg
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Vegan spring rolls, falafel bun, vegan pancake
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Headline these at high-traffic spots, use eye-level menu placement, and employ an attractive pricing strategy.
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Low
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0.20–0.60 kg
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Plant-based burger, veggie noodles,
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Default options at high-traffic spots, eye-level menu placement and an attractive pricing strategy.
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Medium
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0.60–1.50 kg
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Chicken satay, ham tosti, mussel paella
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Reduce impacts and limited numbers by rebalancing portions, replacing with plant-based alternatives or hybridising.
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High
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≥ 1.5 kg
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Mac Cheese Bacon, Fish & Chips, Cheese Quesadilla, Pulled Pork Wrap
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Redesign your audience's favourites in medium or low-impact dishes
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Ultra High
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> 4.0 kg
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Pulled beef, lamb kebab, beef burger
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Remove from the menu due to their high impact; you should not offer products containing beef or lamb.
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Menu Engineering
Curate the food lineup for your audience, artists and crew.
- Decide whether you want to go completely veggie or plant-based, or still offer dairy products, fish and meat. Consider the behaviour of visitors with a flexitarian diet. They will more often choose fish and meat when available, due to social norms and the highly celebratory character most cultures attribute to these ingredients during festivals.
- Select 80% or more of the food options in the ultra-low and low categories, and base the percentage on expected consumption numbers. Redesign favourite dishes into lower-impact dishes by replacing (some) animal ingredients with plant-based alternatives, rebalancing the amount of ingredients and hybridising. Consider the bandwidth of the minimum number of dishes required for each menu item when consulting with your caterer to ensure there is enough food for everyone.
- Select a maximum of 20% food options in the medium category based on the expected percentage of consumption. Consider the bandwidth of the maximum number of dishes required for each menu item when consulting with your caterer to achieve the overall 0.35 kg CO2e target. Avoid beef, lamb, and shrimp.
Promote & change behaviour.
- Pricing strategy. Make the ultra-low-impact menu item more affordable than the medium.
- Use engaging names: “Crispy Spring Rolls” beats “Vegan Spring Roll” on signage. Read more about the names of the menu options here.
- Carbon Label: Use colours or icons to highlight menu items within the limits of the Earth. Read more here
- Storytelling: Dive into the story behind the low-impact meals, via your online channels, in advance of the festival
Read more about behaviour change and food choices here.
4. Dish Quick Fixes
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Dish
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Problem
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Fix
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Chicken satay (1.0 kg)
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Chicken + peanut sauce
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Half-portion chicken + grilled tofu cubes; sauce on side → 0.35 kg
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Ham & Grilled cheese toastie (2.8 kg)
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Double dairy & pork
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Swap to vegan cheese, add pesto & tomato → 0.40 kg
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Fish & chips (2.5 kg)
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Trawler fuel + frying oil
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Beer-battered oyster mushroom “fish alternative”, chips → 0.60 kg
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Pulled beef (6 kg)
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Beef
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Switch to BBQ jackfruit → 0.50 kg
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Measure, Share, Act
- In the ideal situation, you should deep-dive into at least one festival edition's food & drinks impacts using a recommended tool to gain a comprehensive understanding. With this data, you can build on the insights for future editions, combining them with the learnings from this article. How? Ask vendors for recipes and run them through a calculator (e.g., Agribalyse via ChatGPT, Klimato or Foodsteps). See our 27 favourite festival dish examples here.
- Track sales and leftovers of every menu item via POS export and vendor data to a spreadsheet.
- Calculate food impact with the actual consumed numbers + leftover numbers x impact data from each dish.
- Share the score with your team and caterers. Did you achieve your target? Take clear actions for the next edition to strive for an average of 0.35 kg CO2e per dish.
Going vegetarian blindly won’t cut it, but curating a balanced, brightly promoted food menu of ultra-low, low, and smarter medium dishes will. You’ll feed the crowd, hit the Green Deal Circular Festivals target, and prove that celebrating together and delicious food can go hand-in-hand within the limits of the Earth.
Click here to download a comprehensive guide with 27 example dishes to gain valuable insights and take hands-on steps to achieve a low-carbon menu together with your caterers.
DOWNLOAD THE GUIDE
Photo credits: Ania Shrimpton (Shambala, 2023)