'Plate to Planet' will show the carbon impact of food items on menus a chain of Jersey cafes.

The partnership between the Environment department and Café Ube aims to educate islanders on the environmental impact of their food choices by showing the carbon footprint of menu items.

The one-year pilot will initially roll out across JP Restaurant’s Café Ubé sites, and could later expand to their other eateries.

The featured recipes have been analysed using ‘My Emissions’, which calculates each ingredient in a dish’s carbon footprint. It takes into account farming, processing, packaging, and transport stages.

The government is also exploring the carbon footprint of public sector catering options, including those in the General Hospital, HMP La Moye, and primary and secondary schools. 

Environment Minister Deputy Steve Luce told Channel 103: "I hope to try to educate people and to give them a bit more choice when it comes to choosing off a menu.

"These days we do a lot of this when buying other things - taking into account the energy needed or used, for example for white goods or houses.

"People can now look at a list of produce, and they see how much carbon has gone into it and make informed choices - maybe choosing an option that is locally-grown, less food miles or less packaging."

The pilot will first be seen in Café Ubé and could later expand to their other eateries. 

Asked about the potential for creating climate anxiety around what to eat, Deputy Luce said: "It's always difficult.. people have to make food choices around allergies, or others may be vegan or vegetarian. 

"There may be some anxiety, but I don't want to overly influence people. All I want to do is educate them and indicate which (foods) use a lot more carbon with others.

"Consumers in France, the UK, Germany, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands have expressed positive sentiment around introducing carbon labels, so I'm hoping to see similar sentiment in Jersey. I’d also like to thank Café Ubé for their support and partnership with this scheme.”