Canadian universities aim to boost plant-based options on menus in 2024 to meet student demand

Leila Ahouman, CBC News, December 26, 2023

…. Universities across the country are introducing more plant-based food in their dining halls, something institutions say is an ongoing demand from students for more variety and a larger push for more sustainable practices.

At Western, students are the driving force behind the increase in vegan and vegetarian meals. The university set a goal of having a 40 per cent plant-based menu at all dining halls by the new year, but it hit the target — and at some points even surpassed it — this year. A fully vegan outlet will open in 2024, and the school wants to reach a 50 per cent target in 2025.

Colin Porter, director of hospitality services at Western, said when students initially complained about the lack of nutritious and healthy options, the school had to “take responsibility and align with sustainability values.”

Chefs from Ontario universities train to cater to student demands for plant-based foods

The push to have more plant-based menus on campuses is happening across the country. At the University of British Columbia, 55 per cent of the food in dining halls is plant-based, and the Vancouver school hopes to reach a goal of 80 per cent by 2025. Also that year, Concordia University in Montreal plans to reduce its purchase of meat, dairy and eggs by 30 per cent.

Similarly, Dalhousie University in Halifax aims to offer a menu with at least 50 per cent plant-based food options by 2030. And while plant-based options represented less than half of the University of Toronto’s food services offerings two years ago, they now account for 61 per cent.

David Speight, the executive chef and culinary director of food services at UBC, explains how 55 per cent of the university’s menu is plant-based — and what this represents for universities in Canada….

[… Read more at CBC News ]


 

UC Berkeley commits to having 50% of its entrees be plant-based by 2027

Benita Gingerella, FoodService Director, December 12, 2023

The University of California Berkeley has announced a commitment to have at least 50% of the entrees served in its dining commons be plant-based by 2027.

The school is teaming up with the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) to help them reach their goal.

To kick off of the partnership, UC Berkeley and HSUS hosted a plant-based takeover at Crossroads, the school’s largest dining commons. During the event, students sampled a plant-based Fall Grain Salad Stuffed Acorn Squash and provided their thoughts on the menu item. They also shared their feedback on what they would like to see on menus going forward.

Over the next several semesters, HSUS will also be offering a variety of culinary trainings, marketing and other resources to aid UC Berkeley as it makes the transition.

“We’re excited to join this initiative and showcase our plant-based options,” said Christopher R. Henning, executive director for Berkeley Dining, in a statement. “Berkeley Dining has a strong commitment to offering our students healthy and nutritious plant-based options, as well as engaging with our students in the process.”

UC Berkeley is the first school in the University of California system to partner with HSUS and commit to serving more plant-based items on campus.

Many other colleges and foodservice providers have also partnered with HSUS in the past. Penn State is currently working with the organization to make 35% of its entrees served on campus be plant-based by 2025. Elior, Aramark, Sodexo and Whitsons Culinary Group have all partnered with HSUS to expand their plant-based options.

[… Read more at FoodService Director ]


 

A Meatless Diet Is Better for You—And the Planet

Scientific American, July 14, 2023

by Sarah C. Hull, assistant professor of medicine, and associate director of the Program for Biomedical Ethics, Yale School of Medicine.

The idea that we need to eat meat to get enough protein and iron, a false assumption of some Paleo diet acolytes, is a common misconception. It ignores the abundance of protein and iron in many plant-based foods such as nuts, seeds and legumes. Similarly, consuming dairy is not necessary to obtain adequate dietary calcium, as this mineral is abundant in soy, lentils, beans, nuts, seeds, grains, leafy greens and cruciferous vegetables.

Likewise, while we typically associate omega-3 fatty acids with fish, fish themselves incorporate these into their tissue by eating algae and seaweed, which we can consume directly without the concerns of exposure to accumulated mercury and microplastics in fish flesh. Indeed, a whole-food, plant-based diet can provide all essential nutrients except for vitamin B12, which is made by bacteria in soil and ingested by animals, thereby incorporated into their tissue, milk, and eggs. While modern sanitation allows humans to consume clean produce uncontaminated by dirt or feces, we can easily and cheaply obtain oral B12 supplements.

Furthermore, significantly reducing our consumption of meat would carry vast benefits. As cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death around the world, poor diet has now surpassed tobacco smoking as the top risk factor for death in the U.S, where life expectancy has now stagnated, in large part because of a plateau in mortality from cardiovascular disease. Eating highly processed foods and red meat has been repeatedly demonstrated to promote underlying mechanisms of cancer and cardiovascular disease, such as inflammation and damage to the lining of blood vessels.

Mounting evidence points to the benefits of a whole-food, plant-based diet. A meta-analysis of scientific studies from 2017 found that a vegetarian diet is associated with a 25 percent relative risk reduction for coronary heart disease and an 8 percent relative risk reduction for cancer, with a vegan diet conferring a 15 percent relative risk reduction for cancer. The World Health Organization (WHO) has classified processed meat as carcinogenic, and (unprocessed) red meat as probably carcinogenic to humans. Finally, randomized controlled trials have also demonstrated the benefits of a Mediterranean diet (essentially a whole-food, plant-predominant diet) in both the primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease, with enhanced benefits from greater adherence to a provegetarian (more plant-based) dietary pattern.

In addition to harming ourselves, eating meat harms others. Factory farming practices often entail unspeakable cruelty to animals, and working conditions for human laborers are often unsafe and inhumane as well. Overcrowding of livestock and workers promotes the spread of disease among both people and animals, putting us all at risk for future pandemics. The overuse of “routine” antibiotics to accelerate animal growth and preemptively treat the infections anticipated as a result of living in unclean and overcrowded conditions can promote antibiotic resistance. Finally, meat consumption contributes to climate change though deforestation and methane emissions. Food systems make up a third of global greenhouse gas emissions caused by human activity, and animal-based foods contribute twice the emissionsof plant-based foods. Switching from the typical Western diet to a vegetarian diet can reduce one’s personal dietary carbon emissions by 30 percent; a strict vegan diet can reduce them by as much as 85 percent….

[… Read more at Scientific American]


 

Hundreds of academics call for 100% plant-based meals at UK universities

Damian Carrington, The Guardian, Sept. 4, 2023

fight the climate crisis, saying that the institutions have “for centuries, been shining lights of intellectual, moral, and scientific progress”.

The open letter, organised by the student-led Plant-Based Universities campaign, likened the move to meat-free food to the fossil fuel divestment to which 101 UK universities have already committed.

Cutting meat consumption in rich nations is vital to tackling the climate crisis, with scientists saying it is the single biggest way for people to reduce their impact on the planet.

The letter, sent to UK university vice-chancellors, catering managers, and student union presidents, said: “We are acutely aware – as you must be too – of the climate and ecological crises; not only this but we are also mindful that animal farming and fishing are leading drivers of them.

“Most universities have declared a climate emergency, with many taking steps such as fossil fuel divestment. [Students] deserve to know that their universities are actively working to create a future for them to graduate into.”….

The Plant-Based Universities campaign is active in more than 50 universities. To date, the student unions’ at Birmingham, University College London, Stirling, and Queen Mary universities have voted to phase in 100% plant-based menus.

Related votes also have passed at Cambridge, Kent and London Metropolitan universities. Votes at Edinburgh and Warwick universities did not pass. The University of Cambridge removed beef and lamb from the menus of its 14 catering outlets in 2016, “dramatically reducing food-related carbon emissions”.

Chris Packham said: “The student campaigners of Plant-Based Universities are making incredible changes in their institutions and it’s only right to see hundreds of academics stepping up to support them.”

In 2020, A powerful coalition of the UK’s health professions said the climate crisis could not be solved without action to cut the consumption of high-emission food such as red meat, and that sustainable diets were healthier.

Public sector caterers serving billions of meals a year in schools, universities, hospitals and care homes also pledged in 2020 to cut the amount of meat they serve by 20%. In 2021, a government-commissioned national food strategyrecommended cutting meat consumption by nearly a third.

[… Read more at The Guardian]


 

These 2 College Cafés Just Made Oat Milk the Default

Dairy is no longer the default at these on-campus cafés, following a larger oat milk trend at coffee chains such as Blue Bottle and Stumptown.

Jamie Evan Bichelman, VegNews, April 25, 2023
Gen Z is leading a transcendent shift in plant-based food consumption. This is particularly evident in the plant-based milk category where the demographic consumes five times more than any prior generation. This means that in college, Zoomers are reaching for anything but cow’s milk for their coffee. So how are campuses keeping up?

At the University of San Diego, award-winning coffeehouse Aromas is now the first known on-campus café in the country to offer oat milk by default.

“The ‘Oat Milk Initiative’ was one of the winning ideas from the 2021 Changemaker Challenge, a social innovation competition focused on ways to make our campus more sustainable and inclusive,” Juan Carlos Rivas, PhD, Director of Social Change and Student Engagement for the Changemaker HUB at USD, tells VegNews…

[… Read more at VegNews]


 

Plant-Based Protein Supports Building Muscle During Resistance Training

New Article in the Journal for Nutrition

Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, Feb. 27, 2023

 

Plant-based protein supports building muscle during resistance training as much as an omnivorous diet, according to a study published in the Journal of Nutrition. Young adults who followed a plant-based diet showed no significant differences in muscle volume, muscle strength, or muscle fiber size when compared to those who ate an omnivorous diet during training. A high-protein vegan diet is as effective for optimal skeletal muscle development during intense trainings as nonvegan diets.

Ref. Monteyne AJ, Coelho MO, Murton AJ, et al. Vegan and omnivorous high protein diets support comparable daily myofibrillar protein synthesis rates and skeletal muscle hypertrophy in young adults. J Nutr. 2023;S0022-3166(23)12680-0. doi:10.1016/j.tjnut.2023.02.023


 

Cambridge University students vote for completely vegan menus

Union will hold talks with catering services about removing all animal products from cafes and canteens

Nadeem Badshah, The Guardian, Feb. 21, 2023

Students at the University of Cambridge have voted to support a transition to a solely vegan menu across its catering services.

The Cambridge students’ union voted on Monday to hold talks about removing all animal products from its cafes and canteens with the university’s catering services….

William Smith, 24, from the Cambridge branch of the Plant-Based Universities campaign, said: “It’s great that Cambridge students’ union has passed our motion to work with the university to implement a just and sustainable plant-based catering system.

“By removing animal products from its menus, the university could significantly reduce its environmental impact and showcase to the world its commitment to sustainability….

[… Read more at The Guardian]


 

LinkedIn Headquarters Goes Mostly Plant-Based To Reduce Carbon Footprint

The move has proved popular with LinkedIn employees

Amy Buxton, Plant Based NewsJanuary 26, 2023

LinkedIn has converted the menu at its San Francisco headquarters to feature mostly plant-based options.

Working with its Sodexo-owned catering partner, Good Eating Company, the professional network platform subscribed to a food program designed by Greener by Default (GBD). GBD is a specialist company that assists organizations to move towards more sustainable food options. It does so by promoting plant-based menu choices.

This resulted in a 65 percent plant-based menu being brought in at LinkedIn. Simultaneously, cow’s milk has been replaced with oat alternatives as the default option.

Though meat dishes are still served, they are limited in number. The most carbon-intensive meats, including beef and lamb, are included in just one dish per week. It is hoped that diners will naturally favor climate-friendly meals as a result.

“When a corporate trendsetter like LinkedIn shows that people are happy to choose plant-based foods when they’re accessible and appealing, it’s a huge leap forward towards a more sustainable food culture,” Katie Cantrell, CEO of Greener by Default, told Plant Based News….

[… Read more at Plant Based News ]


 

Plant-Based Options On US College Campuses Are Increasing Exponentially

College students across the US will soon have more plant-based food to choose from

Amy Buxton, Plant Based NewsNovember 1, 2022

Aramark, the largest foodservice company in the US, has announced that it is committed to increasing the number of plant-based options on its college menus by 2025.

Working with the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), the catering giant will increase animal-free meal choices—so that they make up almost half (44 percent) of all offerings—across more than 250 educational institutions.

The two have worked together for more than a decade to improve food options in colleges and universities. HSUS has also previously collaborated with fellow educational food service provider Sodexo to facilitate a global shift towards plant-based consumption.

For Aramark, the HSUS partnership plays a major role in its company-wide environmental commitments. They are in place to create a 25 percent reduction in the carbon footprints of menus served by the provider in the US by 2030….

[… Read more at Plant Based News ]