Encouraging College Students to Choose Vegan Entrees
By Reed Mangels, PhD, RD
A recent press release from Sodexo, a global food service and facilities management company, provided an interesting idea for encouraging college students to choose vegan dishes. A study was conducted in three universities, Tulane, Lehigh, and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. The research non-profit Food for Climate League conducted the study in collaboration with Better Food Foundation and Sodexo.
On study days, a dining hall station at each school was randomly assigned to serve either a plant-based dish as the default option (Plant Default Day) or a meat dish along with a plant-based dish (Control Day). All plant-based dishes were vegan. When a plant-based dish was the default option, it was presented as the main option at that station. A small sign indicated that a meat version of the dish could be requested but the meat version was not displayed. For example, Roasted Sesame Ginger Tofu Tikka Masala could be the only visible option at a station, but a small sign says that Chicken Tikka Masala is available upon request. On control day, a meat dish and a similar plant-based dish were presented side-by-side.
At the two universities (Tulane and Lehigh) that consistently implemented Plant Default Day, the average take rate of plant-based dishes increased from 30.8% on Control Days to 81.5% on Plant Default Days. This means that when a vegan dish was the default, more than 80% of students chose that dish as opposed to requesting a meat dish. Meat dishes were available at other stations in the dining halls, so students may have gone to other stations instead of requesting a meat dish at the experimental station.
Surveys found no statistically significant difference in student satisfaction between vegan dishes and meat dishes. Staff reported that minimal extra effort was needed to implement Plant Default Days.
These results suggest that use of a default option is a successful way to nudge human behavior. In this case, making a vegan dish the default (that’s what you are served if you don’t go out of your way to request something else) nudged students to eat more vegan dishes. Similar techniques could be used in other settings including corporate work-site cafeterias, restaurants, elementary and secondary school cafeterias, and cruise ships.
You can read the study report which was made possible through the support of VegFund here.
To read more about the use of default options to promote choice of vegan meals see:
Sustainable Food Choices Lecture.
To read more about vegan foods in college see:
How to Add More Vegan Foods to Your College Cafeteria
How to Get Veggie Options Prepared by a Chef in a Frat House
