This Simple Shift is Transforming Our Food Systems

In a world increasingly concerned with health and our environment, a quiet movement is taking place across dining halls, cafeterias, and coffee shops worldwide.

(Article was originally published on Happy Eco News on June 11, 2025)

Plant-based food is becoming the norm in many food service settings–from university campuses to hospitals and coffee shops worldwide. This transformation is powered not by mandates but by the science of human behavior and the power of nudges.

The Power of Nudging Toward Sustainability

At the heart of this movement lies the science of behavioral nudges. “Small and apparently insignificant details can majorly impact people’s behavior. In many cases, the power of these small details comes from focusing the attention of users in a particular direction,” explains Cass Sunstein and Richard H. Thaler in the book Nudge. “A choice architect must [for example] choose a particular arrangement of food options at lunch, and by doing so, they can influence what people eat – they can nudge.”

Nudge theory suggests that by changing how choices are presented—the “choice architecture”—we can promote better behaviors at scale without removing freedom of choice. In practice, this might mean placing plant-based options at the beginning of a buffet line or making them the default option on a menu, with meat, dairy, fish, or eggs available by request.

This approach, known as Plant-Based Food by Default, has proven remarkably effective. Research compiled by Faunalytics shows that well-executed plant-based default programs can increase the selection of plant-based options from an average of 17.2% to 72.5%—more than quadrupling the baseline percentage.

The Most Powerful Nudge: Defaults

Plant-based defaults and other nudges are already being used worldwide in hundreds of food service settings, including hospitals, university cafeterias, government events, coffee shops, and restaurants. There’s a good chance you’ve eaten a meal served using plant-based defaults and nudges. Plant-based defaults are easy to implement because they transform dining habits without restricting freedom of choice, making them a powerful tool for forward-thinking institutions regarding sustainable and healthy food.

Examples of the Global Movement

The movement is gaining momentum globally, with innovative implementations appearing across diverse settings, often advocated by students, employees, and customers wanting healthier and sustainable meals.

Gen Z & Millennials: According to research by global management consulting firm McKinsey & Co., Gen Zers and Millennials are most likely to be interested in vegetarian and vegan options. This doesn’t mean swathes of young people are becoming vegan, but instead, they’re taking a flexible approach to diet. Market research firm NPD Group found that the majority (79%) of Gen Zers go meatless weekly, and 65% want a more plant-forward diet. This mirrors cross-demographic trends. In one global report from Euromonitor, 42% of people identify as flexitarian, while only 4% and 6% classify themselves as vegan or vegetarian, respectively.

University Campuses: Food service company, Sodexo has made plant-based nudges a standard feature of its cafeteria design at hundreds of universities in North America. The University of San Diego, Erasmus University, Pitzer College, and the University of Michigan serve oat milk as the default in campus coffee shops. Faculty departments, clubs, and events at New York University, Harvard University, and many others have made a policy of serving plant-based meals as the default.

Hospitals: In a groundbreaking initiative, eleven New York City public hospitals now serve plant-based food as the default. The results have been dramatic, with plant-based defaults, more than half of eligible patients choose plant-based meals, even though only 1% identify as vegetarian or vegan. The initiative has been so successful (even saving the hospitals money) that it is being implemented in hundreds of additional hospitals.

Coffee Shops: Major chains like Blue Bottle Coffee, Stumptown, Onyx, and Birch Coffee have shifted to oat milk as their default option. In a pilot, when Portland’s Guilder Cafe removed its dairy default, plant-based drink sales increased by 18%. Some of the world’s largest coffee shops—Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts, Peets, Tim Hortons—have recently eliminated their upcharge for plant-based milk. This more subtle nudge will undoubtedly lead to an increase in plant-based milk orders.

Cities: In 2019, Amsterdam became the first global city to serve plant-based meals by default, and in 2021, the Denver Mayor’s Sustainability Advisory Council followed suit. The City of West Hollywood passed a policy requiring plant-based food service as the default at city events. At the same time, the County of Los Angeles is encouraged to adopt a 2-to-1 ratio of plant-based to animal-based entrees.

Benefits Beyond the Environment

While environmental benefits are substantial, with emissions reductions ranging from 23.6% to 42.7% in various institutional settings and a significant decrease in land and water use, the advantages of plant-based defaults extend further:

Cost Savings: Contrary to common assumptions, well-planned plant-based defaults often save money. Eleven NYC hospitals reported a cost savings of approximately 59 cents per meal, a $450,000 cost savings in 2023.

Accessibility: Approximately 50 million US adults have difficulty digesting lactose in dairy milk–approximately 95% of Asian Americans, 60-80% of Black Americans and Ashkenazi Jews, 80-100% of American Indians, and 50-80% of Latin Americans exhibit lactose sensitivity.

Consumer Satisfaction: Multiple studies report high approval ratings for plant-based initiatives. In two reports—the New York hospitals initiative and a set of experiments in Denmark—plant-based initiatives had an approval rating of 90% among participants. According to several studies, young people are the most likely to seek out and enjoy plant-based foods.

This quiet movement demonstrates that sometimes the most effective environmental actions aren’t the most disruptive—they’re the ones that work with human behavior rather than against it. This plant-based norm is shaped by small shifts and innovative design.

If you work in food service, are a student or employee, or a community leader, visit the Better Food Foundation to access resources and explore the Top 5 Nudge Strategies to shift food at your dining settings. Together, we can design a better food system–one small shift at a time.