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Our “Local STEM” series highlights local government and community initiatives and organizations in areas that relate to STEM.

Greener by Default uniquely applies behavioral science to food policy in an effort to make plant-based food the default across foodservice. Katie Cantrell is the CEO and co-Founder of Greener by Default and emphasizes the importance of switching the norm in institutional food service to preserve the freedom of choice for consumers . ESAL discusses the idea of using choice architecture to create more inclusive, sustainable food options in hospital, corporation and university settings with Cantrell.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

MS: What is the larger need that you hope to address through Greener by Default?

Cantrell: Our ultimate goal is to switch the norm in institutional foodservice. Currently, meat is the default. The standard American diet with tons of meat, cheese and dairy in every single meal is not inclusive for the many people who are lactose intolerant, trying to eat healthier or have religious or cultural beliefs that restrict certain animal products.

It's also not good for the environment, but it's the norm. In order to opt out of it, you have to take a stand and put in a lot of conscious effort, which usually only strict vegetarians or vegans would bother to do. You have to speak up and be a little bit of a pain. We're trying to make plant-based the default and give people the choice to opt into meat and dairy. This preserves freedom of choice. It is not forcing people to eat meatless.

MS:  What are some areas of foodservice that Greener by Default has impacted?

Cantrell:  We worked with New York City Health and Hospitals to implement plant-based defaults for their patient meals at all 11 hospitals. We started with a pilot program for patient lunches. The way that it works there is they have a verbal menu. A food service associate goes into the patient's room, says, “Our chef special today is spaghetti. Would you like that?” If the patient says no, they say “Our other chef special of the day is curry, would you like that?” If they say no to both of those, then there's a static menu of options that they can choose from. Before the pilot program, they did “Meatless Mondays,” but every other day of the week, both of the chef specials had meat in them, and patients had to specially request a vegetarian meal.

For the pilot, we made both of the chef specials plant-based. If patients didn't want either of those, they had other options to choose from that included meat. It was a huge initiative and joint effort between us, the mayor's office, New York City Health and Hospitals, and the culinary director of Sodexo.The pilot went so well that they have now implemented it permanently at all 11 hospitals for patient lunches and dinners, transitioning 800,000 meals per year to plant-based.

MS: What are a couple examples of meals that chefs have created that have been used for this program?

Cantrell: We often encourage leaning on international cuisines that are naturally plant-forward, like Mexican food that has black beans, Vietnamese pho or banh mi that have tofu, or Indian cuisine with lentils or chickpeas. Those are times when diners will expect to see plant-based proteins and they won't even think twice about it. 

MS: Are there any other strategies Greener by Default has used?

Cantrell: Another strategy that we recommend is what we call subtle substitutions. A friend and colleague of mine worked with a school district in Colorado to switch out the eggs and dairy in their baked goods with flax seeds, applesauce, bananas and oil.

No one noticed the difference. They saved $10,000 a year and they cut as much carbon as driving 50,000 miles. 

MS: Are you using data to inform future decisions of implementing Greener by Default to other contexts?

Cantrell: We conduct focus groups with the front lines of foodservice: foodservice staff in hospitals, nurses, and dieticians to learn what worked and what didn't. There is a lot of nuance to this. Data can help show the types of cuisines and what works best for different diners. One place may prefer bowls and healthier options, while another place prefers more comfort food. Certain traditional diners that are very meat and potatoes may be resistant to fully plant-based options. In those situations, we lean on meat reduction rather than fully plant-based dishes. 

MS: What research has the Greener by Default Team conducted so far?

Cantrell:Our co-founder and COO, Ilana Braverman, recently published a paper with several members of our research board about plant-based defaults at on campus events. Researchers at Harvard, UCLA, and ASU studied how people RSVPing to an event and on the form, it just says, “Click here to request a vegetarian meal”, “Click here to request a gluten-free meal”, for instance. With the default being meat, they found less than 20 percent of people went out of their way to request plant-based. For the study, they flipped it. In accordance with our commitment to sustainability inclusivity, plant-based will be the default: “Check here if you'd like to request a meal with meat”. About two-thirds of people stuck with the plant-based default. A third of people requested meat. Changing the language on the registration form resulted in an almost 50% increase in the number of people eating plant-based. They calculated the environmental impacts and found that the carbon footprint of the event decreased by around 40% just by changing the language on the registration form to normalize the plant-based option. 

MS: What advice would you have for  scientists or engineers that want to get more involved with Greener by Default?

Cantrell: The most direct way is to reach out to us if you think it's a good fit for your company. We give “Lunch and Learns” or webinars. If there is a green team or your company has a sustainability speaker series, we can come in and give a talk. If you work for a place that has a cafeteria or catered menus, we have tips and easy best practices that can be implemented. For example, in a buffet, putting the plant-based option first and having meat at the end and having smaller serving utensils for meat and dairy. It just kind of subconsciously shapes how we fill up our plates.

Our website has DIY guides for different food serving styles and events. Folks who work at larger institutions can email us at info@greenerbydefault.org. Generally, there's often a lot more that you can do than you realize. Companies care most about their employees, not what random outsiders think.With both food and sustainability more broadly, people don't think about these things if there's no one to voice it. So there are a lot of great opportunities to make changes.