The Food Scout

What do the Queen of England and PepsiCo have in common? This week they were both featured in the news for their decision to be more “neutral” — carbon-neutral, that is.

On Monday, May 7, PepsiCo is expected to announce its decision to purchase 1 billion kilowatt hours of renewable energy credits in 2007, to help offset the emissions from its own manufacturing efforts. The Queen of England likewise announced she would pay $20,000 to compensate for the carbon emissions caused by her trip to the U.S., which would be used to plant trees and support projects in developing countries, and was planning to make her residences carbon neutral by 2012.

Barely a murmur last fall in the news, the idea of the “carbon footprint” and reducing one’s own personal carbon footprint (see my “Low Carbon Diet” article) is heating up big-time now. There’s even an American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment organization, signed by as many as 200 colleges and universities in the U.S. already, that advocates not just buying credits, but also reducing actual emissions.

Flash-in-the-pan fad or sustainable trend? Well, PepsiCo announced a plan many years ago to start removing trans fats from its products, and look what’s happened with that “crazy” proactive step in the past year or two.

So, personally, if I were hedging my bets, I would put some money on the “carbon footprint” as one of the next big “health” trends to put some time against. I find it interesting that there is a position at PepsiCo called “director of energy, utilities and conservation.” Could be the next “MIS” department.