More than you'd think! Eating is the most significant interaction all of us have with the environment. However, the food system for which we depend on for three meals a day is also one of the highest GHG emitting sectors globally, where up to 37% of total GHG emissions are attributable to the food system. Between agriculture, forestry and land use alone, food is responsible for over a quarter of global emissions generated through human action, ranging from livestock management, chemical fertilizers, deforestation, degradation of croplands and forests (IPCC, 2022). These actions not only contribute to GHG emissions, but it also undermines nature's ability to lock down carbon where it belongs - in the soil.

Climate change caused by excess carbon in the atmosphere poses an enormous risk to agriculture and global food security as crops and livestock are threatened by severe natural disasters and the effects of global warming.

Zero Foodprint HQ in the United States has been analyzing restaurants’ carbon footprints since 2015, and findings suggest that adding a charge of 1% towards carbon farming would accomplish as much environmental benefit as offsetting the estimated impact from the restaurant’s operation.

But 1% makes a lot of sense on a global scale as well: According to the scientists and climate experts who analyzed 80 climate solutions for Project Drawdown (2017), implementing drawdown projects around the world would cost between USD 22.5-28.4 trillion by 2050. Which when based on 2019's global GDP trajectory (USD87.6 trillion), is about 0.91-1.2% of the global economy; which we have rounded to 1% as a general guide.

Project Drawdown estimates that society can solve the climate crisis by 2050 by using 1% of GDP toward the best readily available climate solutions. Our mission is to bring wealth back to the soil by closing the table-to-farm loop with our 1% diner pledge.

No, because a tax is mandatory, and this is voluntary. Restaurants opt in and diners can opt out, so it’s more like crowd-funding for grants to farmers, who then use their land to pull carbon out of the atmosphere. (Bonus: better food for all of us.) The program represents an opportunity for each of us to vote with our dollars through a direct action that improves our food and climate. Meanwhile, every day, people are paying actual taxes that subsidize the kind of extractive farming that strips topsoil, reduces the nutrient content of produce and makes us more vulnerable to drought, flood, and fire.

Absolutely, there is no one size fits all approach for how we work with our partners and how your business can work on climate action with us. Besides the 1% pledge you can:

1: Collaborate with us on a time bound campaign. For instance, pledge an amount during Earth Month or pledge proceeds from a pop-up.

2: Dedicate a product or menu item. Whether it’s a popular menu item or a signature product, you can assign a fixed dollar amount or a percentage of the proceeds to support climate action.

3. Donate. Funding regenerative agriculture and helping solve one of the biggest crises of our time does not have to be complicated! From time to time we receive generous contributions from fellow supporters.

Get in touch and we’d love to discuss how your business can be part of our movement.

The 1% is pooled into our Restore Fund, and disbursed annually to farms in the region via a robust application and vetting process.

The grants help smallholder farmers transition to regenerative practices that contribute to improved food security and nutrition, farmer prosperity, and reduced vulnerability to climate risk. Funding goes towards capacity building (through training and knowledge sharing) and replacing material and equipment.

Once the funding has been disbursed, consultants and Regenerative Farming (RF) agronomists are assigned to monitor, measure, and evaluate each farm's progress throughout the project period, and we publish regular updates. Data collected is supported by various emerging methodologies inlcuding COMET Planner, RECSOIL Technical Manual, SHI's Recommended Measurements and GIoSIS Data Sets.

Over 80% of the funds generated by restaurants go directly to farmers to implement regenerative practices.tion

Lead the hospitality scene by example by offering 'purposeful dining’ options.

• Align with the preferences of the conscious consumer.

• Safeguard against natural capital losses that your business relies on.

• Be part of something bigger

• Improve the food grid to grow better food.

• Restore soil and ecosystems to protect homes and livelihoods.

• Strengthen the food system dialogue.