As part of the Tallinn – European Green Capital 2023 initiative, Tallinn Strategy Center together with Civitta have developed environmental criteria for restaurant food, with which green labels were awarded to environmentally friendly food for the first time during the Tallinn Restaurant Week. Foods that met at least one criterion received the label: vegan food, organic food, grass-fed or wild animal meat, sustainable fish.

The aim is to pay more and more attention to the importance of environmentally friendly decisions in food culture. In the year of the green capital, Tallinn continues to encourage restaurants to adopt the criteria and hopes that people will increasingly value the environmentally friendly food offered to them.

What is environmentally friendly food?

The green label was given to restaurant food that met at least one criterion: vegan food, organic food, grass-fed or wild animal meat, and sustainable fish. In October, an expert assessed the compliance of the food submitted for evaluation with the criteria and handed out the first green labels to the food of Tallinn restaurants.

Environmental criteria for restaurant food

CRITERION 1: VEGAN FOOD

More about the criteria – what do they essentially mean? Vegan food does not contain animal ingredients, i.e. meat, eggs, dairy products, or other animal products such as gelatin and honey.

Plant-based food is environmentally friendly because significantly less farmland is needed to grow it compared to animal-based food. And as a result, the negative impact of plant-based food on biodiversity is usually significantly smaller than that of animal-based food – the climate impact of plant-based food and also other environmental impacts per unit of production are usually smaller.

CRITERION 2: ORGANIC FOOD

Organic or ecological food means products that are produced and prepared according to the requirements of organic farming. The energy consumption of organic produce per production unit is on average 21% lower compared to conventional food. The load of nutrients on the environment is lower because the quantities of fertilizers used in organic farming are smaller, and organic fertilizers break down slowly.

criterion 2: local grass-fed or wild animal meat

Grass-fed lamb and beef are environmentally friendly, because the animals are mostly grazed on permanent grasslands, and this management method preserves the biodiversity of these grasslands. In addition: grasslands sequester significant amounts of carbon from the air into the soil, and this can reduce the carbon footprint of beef and lamb to zero or even negative (ie sequestration is greater than greenhouse gas emissions).

Wild animal meat is a more environmentally friendly option because the animal grows only using natural resources, i.e. no special feed is produced for growing.

criterion 4: local sustainable fish

Fish species of natural origin are fish caught from local water bodies – herring, sprat or pike fish caught from the Baltic Sea or Estonian inland waters (except eel). Fish of natural origin is a more environmentally friendly alternative because fish grows only using natural resources, i.e. no special feed is produced for cultivation.

Why is it important to eat more environmentally friendly food?

The European Green Deal and its “Farm to Plate” strategy, which aims to create a fair, healthy and environmentally friendly food system, is a model for awarding the Green Label. This means reducing the use of plant protection products, fertilizers and antibiotics, increasing the area of organic land, improving animal welfare, more sustainable consumption of food, reducing wastage and food fraud.

Food production is one of the most important areas of life for people. At the same time, it has a significant impact on the environment. According to various studies, global food production causes about 25-35% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, negatively affects biodiversity and causes several other environmental impacts.

Most of the effects are related to the stage of primary production of food, which is why it is becoming increasingly important to monitor the origin and production of food. Also, food safety, short supply chains, valuing local raw materials and supporting the local producer are increasingly important – especially in the current era of crises.

On the subject of food sustainability, there are many different types of initiatives and solutions in the world, and their number is constantly growing. There are also good examples of activities related to food sustainability among Estonian stores and restaurants, which include reducing food waste and offering local food and organic food, avoiding excessive use of packaging, etc.

Supporting the green transition in general and environmental friendliness are also set as strategic goals in the Tallinn 2035 Development Strategy and the Tallinn Climate Plan, and will also receive an additional boost from the title of European Green Capital, which has been awarded to Tallinn for 2023. Thus, the development of environmental criteria for restaurants, as well as, for example, a guide for environmentally friendly events, even if seemingly small actions, are steps towards a broader sustainable world of thought and a more environmentally friendly future.

 

Tallinn restaurants where you can find food with green labels:

  • ÂME
  • ANNO, Koduresto & Veininurk
  • Barbarea
  • Elevant
  • Fotografiska
  • Gourmet Coffee Kadriorg
  • Lee
  • Lore Bistroo
  • MOON
  • NOA
  • Orangerie
  • Paju Villa
  • Peet Ruut
  • Platz
  • Rado
  • Restoran Võru
  • Rudolf
  • Sakura Resto
  • Salt
  • Scheeli Restoran
  • Snoob resto
  • Stenhus
  • ÜLO
  • Vana Toomas restoran