Enter a few details about your dining setting to see the meals shifted and carbon emissions saved.
Enter a few details about your dining setting: the number of meals served per day, the number of days open per year, and the number of customers per day. Then, select a nudge you are curious about. The calculator then estimates how many meals could shift from animal-based to plant-based over a year, as well as the carbon emissions (CO₂e) that the shift would save.
If you’re pushing for better food systems, this calculator is yours.
“An immensely valuable, simple tool to help people to see what they can accomplish, and how they can achieve their goals.”
–Cass R. Sunstein, Harvard University, BFF Board of Advisors, Co-Author of Nudge
The calculator covers:
1. Plant-Based Defaults: Serve plant-based food as the standard, with meat available on request. This reduces friction by making the plant-based option the one that requires no decision—the most effective nudge.
2. Climate-Friendly Ratios: Increase the proportion of plant-based options on the menu, aiming for two plant-based entrées for every meat dish.
3. Prime Placement: Move plant-based items to the front of the service line, the top of the menu, or the daily special.
4. Subtle Substitutions: Swap animal ingredients like dairy, egg, or butter for plant-based alternatives inside existing recipes.
5. Tasty Titles & Descriptions: Describe plant-based dishes in language built on flavor, texture, and ingredients rather than on what they don’t contain.
Each draws on the best research available, including peer-reviewed field trials, though the evidence base is deeper for some than for others. The methodology report lists more information on how the calculations were made.
No. All plant-based nudges keep meat fully available. The research shows you can shift the meal mix substantially without restricting anyone’s choice.
Yes. Enter event-level numbers, like a 300-person conference or a two-day summit, or annual figures for ongoing dining operations. The math scales either way.
Usually not, and often the opposite. NYC Health + Hospitals made plant-based meals the default for patient lunch and dinner menus and saved roughly $0.59 per meal, totaling about $470,000 in 2025. A Bryant Research analysis of a London university caterer found that plant-based recipes cost 30% less per portion than meat dishes, averaging £1.49 per portion compared with £2.31.
Your numbers will depend on your contracts and sourcing. Check your procurement data.
Not yet. Almost every trial in our database tests one nudge at a time, so we don’t have enough data on how they interact. Run the calculator on your strongest single nudge and treat that as your baseline. We’ll add stacking as the research catches up.
Start with our free virtual Nudge Training sessions. We walk through the top 5 nudge strategies you can apply right away in a dining setting.
→ Register for a free Nudge Training
Sometimes. The calculator is built for anyone to get a fast estimate. If you’re working at scale, get in touch, and we’ll help where capacity allows.
→ Contact us about modeling at scale
This calculator was researched, developed, and written by Björn Ólafsson, Research Specialist at Better Food Foundation.
Thank you to the following experts for their advice and insights used to develop this tool: Dr. Sophie Attwood (Behaviour Global), Imogen Clemett (Humane World for Animals), Kenjin Chang (Greener by Default), and Cass R. Sunstein (Harvard University).