College Students' Emissions "Foodprint": Can Eco-Labels Shift Diet Types?

Abstract

Due to the higher greenhouse gas emissions from livestock food production compared to plant-based food production, it is imperative that consumers shift their diets away from meat. One possible method of encouraging this shift is eco-labeling of products in grocery stores. This paper explores the consumer impacts of eco-labels, specifically on college students because of their pivotal age. The goal is to better understand the extent to which eco-labels affect college students' purchasing and diet choices. This research uses locality and food miles, rather than livestock product containment, as an indicator to consumers of a food's sustainability because of the study site logistics. To conduct the study, select products in a sustainable foods grocery store near UC Berkeley campus were labeled as "Green" (local), "Yellow" (semi-local), or "Red" (foreign). Difference in difference calculations compared the change in sales volume of labeled products (treatment) to the change in sales volume of unlabeled products (control – estimated using other products in the store). The analysis found statistically significant decreases in sales of all labeled products. The conclusion is that students purchase fewer products when those products are labeled by a tiered system of environmental impact.