An chance to minimize greenhouse gas emissions exists for colleges, and it starts with the dazzling silver serving trays in their buffet-style dining halls, according to new research. The project, led by the Food for Climate League in partnership with the Better Food Foundation, Sodexo, and three different university dining halls, discovered that substituting plant-based entrees for meat ones lowers greenhouse gas emissions and increases the likelihood that diners will choose the dish.
For the first time, three separate all-you-can-eat university dining halls will be used in this study to examine the availability of plant-based options. Researchers contrasted days when students were presented with only a plant-based alternative versus days when both a meat- and plant-based dish were available. On any day, students were still allowed to consume animal products; but, on the plant-based default days, they had to specifically request them.
The transformations were striking. Diners choose plant-based meals more frequently in the dining halls where they were consistently available, boosting the "average plant-based take rate" from about 30 percent to 81.5 percent. Thus, emissions also decreased as a result. "We observed a 23.6 percent reduction in food-related greenhouse gas emissions on days when the plant-based dish was served as the default option at one station," says Ilana Braverman, who up until the end of last year served as the Director of Outreach at the Better Food Foundation. Additionally, the number of students choosing the plant-based meal more than doubled on default days.