A groundbreaking BFF co-authored study conducted across UCLA and Harvard catered events shows that simply switching the default meal option from meat to plant-based can dramatically increase sustainable food choices—without restricting anyone’s options.
Researchers tested this “default nudge” at three campus events, including a graduate orientation, a sorority dinner, and an academic conference. The results were striking: participants who received a plant-based meal as the pre-selected option were 3.5 times more likely to choose plant-based meals compared to those who received meat as the default.
The environmental impact is substantial. Using these results, researchers modeled hypothetical 100-person events and found that plant-based defaults could reduce:
What makes this intervention so powerful is its simplicity. Event organizers don’t eliminate choices—they present the plant-based option as the default on RSVP forms, allowing attendees to opt into meat if they prefer. This low-cost, high-impact approach leverages behavioral science to help institutions align their catering with sustainability goals while respecting individual preferences.
With millions of college students attending catered events annually, widespread adoption of plant-based defaults could prevent tens of thousands of tons of carbon emissions, equivalent to taking millions of gallons of gasoline off the road. The researchers suggest this approach could scale beyond campuses to corporate events, hospitals, government functions, and cafeterias.