Our unversity offers a certain dish once in a while for lunch in the cafeteria- Mangal or grilled food (usually chicken). Although traditionally all around the world, grilled chicken is cooked on an actual grill with charcoal, this actually raises the percentage of the carbon dioxide constituent of the atmosphere. The burning of charcoal creates a reaction with oxygen that releases carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, other gases and water. The initial production of charcoal actually involves the continuous burning of wood (cut from trees that absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen) for days which releases several gases. One of which is methane which is a greenhouse gas just like carbon dioxide.
Cooking of food on a grill essentially gives the food a ‘smokey’ flavour, but all that smoke isn’t just going into the taste but the air around us. The main consequence of that cooking method is amount of carbon dioxide and other harmful gases released into the atmosphere, raising the carbon footprint of the university itself and everyone paying for the meal. I believe that the university can reduce its carbon emissions to an extent by either looking for alternative ways to cook certain dish or changing its menu a little to not include food whose preparation process poses a threat to our environment.

By Feyisayo Akinola