TrueMensa – “Wahre Kosten” in the Ohm’s canteen

Together with students in our interdisciplinary degree programme, Management in Organic and Sustainability Business, the environmental costs of our food will be made tangible for all students and staff at the Ohm. In the framework of a campaign, the main dishes at the Mensateria will have two price labels during the period between 10-12 June 2024. One price label with the current price and one that displays the environmental costs of the dish. Any changes to purchasing behaviour will be documented and analysed; the results will be presented at a scientific meeting at the end of the campaign.

The three main dishes (a dish containing meat, a vegetarian dish, and a vegan dish) will be presented with the “true costs”. The true costs comprise the consequential environmental costs (related to climate, soil, water, health) and will raise awareness amongst the university members. All forms of production and consumption have environmental consequences: greenhouse gas emissions, deforestation, groundwater pollution. These consequential costs that are currently invisible – so-called externalities – inevitably accrue along the supply chain, but are not currently reflected or are only partially reflected in the sale prices for products, services, and foods. How and whether they are being offset is not yet transparent.

Exactly how high the costs for these negative externalities is what the team of researchers led by resource economist Prof. Tobias Gaugler (BW Faculty) and the sustainability scientist Dr Amelie Michalke (Institute for Geography and Geology, University of Greifswald) are researching. True Cost Accounting (TCA) methods make the ecological damage caused by current agricultural production practices transparent. To make this tangible for society, the discounter supermarket chain, Penny, offered nine products at their “true price”, which had been calculated by our research team. In all, 2,150 Penny stores in Germany participated in the campaign week last summer. In contrast to the Penny campaign in 2023, the prices in the Mensateria will not be actually charged at the register, they are purely informative. To detect and ascertain and changes in purchasing and consumption behaviours, there will be anonymised survey conducted before and during the campaign. The results will be presented and discussed during a scientific meeting following the campaign.

Community project and biodiversity at Keßlerplatz

Urban Gardening & Educational Research Project: “Shared responsibility in public spaces”

The Urban Gardening project is a collaborative project – from students, for everyone.  There are many new plants, a biodiverse mix of different crop and ornamental plants for humans and animals. Hops are one, and so are strawberries, mint, various vegetables, and many herbs that, of course, have found a spot in herb spirals or in raised beds. When everything has grown and has fruited, we can mindfully harvest together! The plants are there for everyone. The Urban Gardening project is about more than just planting beds. It’s about quality of life, networking, social gardening, and shared responsibility.