Serving Up Plants by Default

Shifting people toward more sustainable, plant-based diets can reduce carbon emissions, improve nutrition, increase global calorie availability, reduce ocean acidification, and improve animal welfare—among many other benefits. Yet despite these advantages, sustainable eating remains niche rather than the norm. The question is: how do we close that gap by making climate-smart choices appealing at scale?

To explore this, we tested the feasibility and environmental impact of shifting a university foodservice station to default plant-based options.

Specifically, we aimed to:

Quantitatively assess the impact of plant-based defaults on greenhouse gas emissions, take rate, and the volume of plant-based versus animal-based meals selected.

Qualitatively evaluate how a shift to default plant-based dishes affects student attitudes and day-to-day operations for foodservice staff.