5 Takeaways from NACUFS Spring Conference LA

This April, the Better Food Foundation team joined chefs, dining directors, and other foodservice professionals advancing plant-based campus dining at the NACUFS 2026 Spring Conference in Los Angeles. Hosted by the National Association of College and University Food Services, the conference brings together people passionate about serving nutritious, delicious food to thousands of students every day. We met many of them and presented a workshop on behavioral science for plant-forward dining to a packed room.  

Colleges and universities shape the food system in outsized ways. They serve millions of meals a year, train the eaters of the next decade, and signal demand to the brands and suppliers that build for them. What happens on campus rarely stays on campus. Here’s what we took away—and why it matters to anyone working on the future of institutional food.

1. Plant-Rich Dining Drew the Biggest Crowds

The day we presented, plant-rich dining had top billing. Two of four learning sessions centered on it explicitly, and a third, led by foodservice giant Chartwells, folded it into a broader sustainability strategy. Every room was full.

The turnout reframes the conversation. Dining professionals aren’t asking whether to serve more plants. They’re asking how — efficiently, deliciously, and in ways students actually choose.

2. Research Is Shaping Implementation

Our session — “Balancing Dining Operations, Guest Satisfaction, and Campus Values through Menus Centering Plant-Based Proteins” — featured me alongside two University of Southern California voices: graduate researcher Angela Zhang and student food advocate Robert Drummond.

Angela presented two groundbreaking studies she co-authored at USC, showing that plant-based defaults at university events significantly shift what people eat — without restricting choice. Robert offered the student perspective, including the friction that comes with pushing dining services toward meaningful change.

The takeaway for operators: evidence is starting to do the heavy lifting. When research shows that small structural shifts drive real outcomes, the case for plant-rich defaults stops being a values pitch and becomes an operational one.

3. Blended Proteins Complement Plant-Based Defaults

The session “Redefining Meat for Campus Dining” tackled a different angle. Moderated by Tim Dale of Food System Innovations, the panel brought together Andrew Arentowicz, co-founder and CEO of 50/50 Foods, and Chef Joey Martin, senior executive chef at UCLA. Their focus: blended (or “balanced”) proteins — burgers, nuggets, and meatballs that combine plant-based ingredients with animal products to deliver familiar taste and texture using significantly less meat.

These two strategies work in tandem. Plant-based defaults expand access to plant-based foods for every student, including those with dietary restrictions and the merely curious. Blended proteins quietly reduce the share of animal ingredients in the menu items students already love. Together, they shrink the carbon, land, and water footprint of campus dining without asking for permission.

4. The Plant-Based Marketplace Is Booming

The exhibition hall told its own story about how far the industry has come. VegPreneur, which helps emerging plant-based brands break into institutional dining, anchored a section featuring plant-based cheeses from PlantAhead and Bettani and proteins from Jack & Annie’s and Rebellyous Foods. Established brands like Fable Food Co (mushroom-based products) and Eclipse Foods (non-dairy ice cream) showed lineups built specifically for foodservice scale.

A few standouts paired plant-based foods with circular-systems thinking: NuMilk installs on-site machines that produce fresh plant-based milks in campus cafés, and Matriark Foods upcycles vegetable scraps into broths and soups. This isn’t category-chasing campus foodservice relevance. It’s a sector building for institutions.

5. The Protein Conversation Is Opening Up

Foodservice teams are tracking student demand for high-protein meals, but they’re widening the frame. We fielded question after question on plant-based protein sources, how to communicate their benefits, and how to deliver protein alongside fiber, micronutrients, and lower-impact sourcing. Beans, lentils, tofu, tempeh, seitan, and a new generation of protein-fortified plant foods are all in the mix.

The conversation has clearly moved past meat-as-default. “Protein” is becoming a category, not a synonym for animal products.

Looking Ahead

The energy at NACUFS suggests we’re at an inflection point. Plant-rich dining is no longer a niche topic at the margins of institutional foodservice; it’s becoming central to how dining professionals think about sustainability, nutrition, and student satisfaction. For sustainability advocates, that means the operational case is catching up to the climate case. For dining directors, it means the support networks, suppliers, and research base are finally ready to meet you where you are.

We’re excited to keep partnering with this community to build menus that work for students, faculty, staff, operators, and the planet.

Working on plant-rich menus at your campus? Check out our Behavioral Nudge Trainings. 

FAQs

What is plant-rich dining?

Plant-rich dining is an approach to menu design that centers plant-based ingredients like vegetables, legumes, whole grains, nuts, and seeds, as well as protein-rich products made from these ingredients, as the foundation of meals, while reducing animal products. 

What are plant-based defaults?

Plant-based defaults are a menu design strategy in which plant-based options are presented as the default (the standard choice), with animal-based options available upon request. Research has shown that defaults significantly influence what people choose to eat, without restricting freedom of choice. 

What are blended or balanced proteins?

Blended proteins (sometimes called balanced proteins) are products that combine plant-based ingredients (such as mushrooms, lentils, or soy) with animal products to create burgers, nuggets, meatballs, and other familiar foods. They deliver the taste and texture students expect from conventional meat products while significantly reducing the amount of animal ingredients used. 

Why does campus dining matter for sustainability?

Colleges and universities serve millions of meals each year, making them significant players in the broader food system. The choices dining services make—what ingredients they purchase, how menus are designed, which brands they partner with—influence student eating habits for years to come and signal demand to suppliers and food manufacturers. Plant-rich dining on campus is one of the highest-leverage strategies for reducing the environmental footprint of institutional foodservice while supporting student health and well-being.