Recipes Innovation on Campus

Learning objectives: 

• Improve understanding of animal agriculture’s effects on climate, pollution, and biodiversity loss.

• Improve reading comprehension skills for scientific papers and learn to clearly communicate findings with a non-scientific audience.

• Quantify the impact of eliminating animal products from one’s diet on planetary health.

• Be able to discuss the relationship between food and the environment with peers and offer practical suggestions for transitioning to a more plant-forward diet.

• Gain effective communication skills that enable you to critically engage with this topic with varying audiences, including your campus dining leaders, such as active listening and asking critical questions.

• Learn about skills and competencies required in culinary and environmental science professions, such as recipe creation and environmental impact analysis.

Stages:

1. Investigation

1. Survey students on campus, aiming to gather data from a variety of student demographics, on the most-consumed meals/dishes from on campus eateries and dining halls. You are welcome to include your personal favorites on this list.

2. Preparation and Planning

1. Reflect on survey results to determine 5-10 commonly consumed meals on your campus and start researching swaps that would enable these to be plant-based.

2. Research the connection between food and environment independently and with the support of Switch4Good materials and team.

3. Calculate the environmental savings of each recipe compared to the original recipe that includes animal products.

4. Research stakeholders on your campus that oversee food offerings, including sustainability dining staff, food procurement folks, and peers that work with your school’s dining committee.

3. Action/Demonstration

1. Schedule a meeting with appropriate campus dining members to discuss your recommendations, resources, and recipes. Propose these recipes as menu changes, supporting your conversation with research and thoughtful reasoning. Take notes about this meeting.

Deliverables:

• Survey that was distributed to student body asking for commonly consumed on-campus dishes

• 5 plant-based recipe alternatives to existing on-campus dishes including ingredient measurements, step-by-step instructions, and photographs.

• Environmental impact comparisons between original and alternative recipes.

• 1-2 page written reflection of the project that includes, challenges, successes, and a detailed summary of the meeting with dining stakeholders.