We're being nudged to eat meat. What if the tables were turned?

If you're taking a flight or attending a conference, chances are you'll get meat on your tray unless you request a vegetarian meal. Photos of meaty steaks and burgers feature prominently on menus and flyers. Even daycares and hospitals typically serve meat-heavy menus.

Public health recommendations such as Canada Food's Guide and research show that a diet rich in plants and low in red meat is healthier for people's bodies, increases life expectancy and is more sustainable.

Yet meat is the default on most menus in North America — something those who create, serve and consume the food may not even realize, says a group that's trying to flip the script and make it easier for people to choose healthier options.

"Making plant-based the default and giving people the choice to opt in to meat – that preserves freedom of choice, but it normalizes plant-based options for everyone," said Katie Cantrell, co-founder and CEO of Greener by Default.

How default options nudge people to eat meat

Defaults are often unconscious and unintentional, she said: "I don't think that most people are thinking like, 'Oh, I want to drive my diners to meat.' I think it's really just this framework of 'Vegetarian food is for vegetarians and, you know, other things are for everyone else.'" 

She recalled the story of her mom's friend, who was served a plate of dry, unappetizing chicken at an event. When she saw her vegetarian co-worker with a plate of colourful vegetables, she wished she had asked for that. "But because she doesn't identify as a vegetarian, she doesn't think to request a vegetarian meal."

That self-identification is one reason omnivores are far more likely to choose an item described as "black bean enchiladas" than "vegetarian enchiladas," Cantrell said.

And when meat is the automatic option, most omnivores will "choose" it out of inertia, she added, just as most people don't change the default settings on their phone or software. 

How to make diners choose more plants

Cantrell thinks most people know that eating more plants and less red meat is healthier and more sustainable.

Serving more plants is also more inclusive, she said, since many religions have restrictions on meat and many common allergies are to animal products such as dairy or eggs.

But people are faced with a lot of meat-based defaults in their lives. 

That's why Greener By Default offers strategies to institutions that serve food about how to incorporate plant-based defaults, based on behavioural economics research on how to "nudge" people toward greener, healthier choices.

For example, the group consulted for a company that has an annual work retreat, where they serve breakfast bowls with scrambled eggs, hash browns and vegetables. Greener By Default suggested that instead of piling bacon and sausages on top, the company put the meat at a separate self-serve station.

The result? "Maybe a third or half of the people went up and actually selected the breakfast meats," Cantrell recalled.

In another case, plant-based meals were the default at a conference and people who requested a meat meal got a little red sticker on their badge (like the green sticker that vegetarians usually have when meat is the default). 

Cantrell was surprised at the powerful effect of normalizing plant-based meals. Some attendees became ashamed of the red sticker. "We certainly were not trying to create any type of stigma," she said. "But it's interesting."

Studies around the world have shown that plant-based defaults can significantly increase the number of omnivores choosing plant-based meals.

Besides changing the default, studies show that putting plant-based dishes at the front of a buffet or renaming plant-based dishes to highlight flavours, textures and ingredients rather than their healthiness or lack of meat also encourages omnivores to choose them. For example, renaming "meat-free sausages and mash" to "Cumberland-spiced veggie sausages and mash" increased sales by 76 per cent at a chain of UK cafes.

WATCH | Why universities are shifting to plant-based menus

A plant-based menu is the No. 1 priority for university food services in Canada: chef

1 year ago

Duration 1:01

David Speight, the executive chef and culinary director of food services at UBC, explains how 55 per cent of the university's menu is plant-based — and what this represents for universities in Canada.

Universities take a lead in plant-based shift

Kathleen Kevany, an agriculture professor at Dalhousie University focused on sustainable diets, likes that such strategies preserve choice. "It just allows for people to try foods that they might not otherwise — because one, they previously weren't even on offer and two, they weren't made very appealing."

Dalhousie is among universities across the country that are introducing more plant-based food to their dining halls and setting targets to make those a majority of dishes they offer, driven by both demand among younger, diverse Canadians and climate concerns. 

Kevany has been part of a group called Default Dal that has also been trying to get more plant-based food defaults into smaller events like departmental meetings and celebrations.

"Universities are in a superb position to have a multiplier effect," she said. "They're already serving millions of meals a day … Why not make it more evident that we're leaders in climate change solutions, we are leaders in health improvements, and we're leaders in equity and justice?"

Kevany is also the principal investigator for the Food Impact Network, collaborating with other researchers, institutions such as Halton Healthcare, food provider Aramark and groups such as Greener By Default, to help put more plant-based food on menus and cut food waste.

"Because climate change is urgent, we are not putting the onus on family members or households alone," she said. "The emphasis has to be on institution and systems change."

WATCH | Training professional chefs in plant-based cooking:

Plant-based chef training at Western University

2 years ago

Duration 1:10

Chefs Amy Symington and Andrew DuHasky were on hand at a plant-based culinary training event at Western University.

Hospitals get happier patients, financial savings

Alongside universities, hospitals are among the early adopters of this approach.

Vancouver General Hospital launched a pilot project last year to add two dozen new dishes to its menu in partnership with chef Ned Bell and Greener By Default. The new dishes emphasized flavours from around the world and plant-based foods but also incorporated poultry and sustainable seafood.

Dr. Andrea MacNeil, a cancer surgeon at the hospital who also founded and runs the University of British Columbia Planetary Healthcare lab, was one of the researchers leading the project. She told CBC's White Coat, Black Art that the goal was to show that a menu that meets the needs of both human nutrition and planetary health was possible within the operational constraints of a hospital.

The new dishes included a coconut chickpea curry and Thai noodle bowl with Thai peanut dressing, tofu, edamame and bok choy.

LISTEN | Making hospital food scrumptious, and sustainable:

White Coat Black Art26:30Making hospital food scrumptious, and sustainable

When Ned Bell’s wife was recovering from cancer surgery at Vancouver General Hospital, the unappetizing food she was served left a bad taste in his mouth. So the five-star chef teamed up with his wife’s surgeon to revamp patient meals. Dr. Brian Goldman visits Chef Bell in the hospital’s test kitchen to see how the new “Planetary Health Menu” helps boost patient health and reduce the carbon footprint of traditional hospital food.

MacNeil said it was very exciting to see patients try the new dishes.

"In many cases … these people hadn't had a lot of exposure to plant-based proteins, things like tofu or tempeh, and wouldn't naturally have, say, chosen that off a restaurant menu or even off a hospital menu if given a choice," she said. "And so many of them expressed this pleasant surprise at how delicious the dishes were."

Greener by Default estimated that the menu change cut the greenhouse gas emissions from their meals by 40 per cent. MacNeil said patients also reported improved satisfaction with their food and generated less food waste.

Because plant-based proteins tend to be cheaper than meat, swapping in more plants often saves money – New York hospitals that added more plant-based meals reported saving an average of 59 cents US per meal in 2023.

Now, Vancouver Coastal Health is taking the best-performing dishes from the Vancouver General Hospital pilot and rolling them out at the rest of its hospitals.

Yes, you can try this at home

While institutions are taking the lead, Cantrell says plant-based defaults are also something that people can implement in their personal lives if they're hosting a big event, such as a wedding, or even just attending a potluck.

"It's more inclusive, it's cheaper and it's more sustainable," she said. "So even those little personal choices like 'I'll try a vegan cookie recipe for this potluck that I'm going to so that more people will be able to eat it even though I'm not personally vegan.'... That's the sort of paradigm shift we're hoping for."