Chapters

Documented institutional plant-based food transitions and implementation models across schools, hospitals, universities, governments, and public food systems.

Featured Chapters

University of the Witwatersrand
University / Higher education •South Africa
The University of the Witwatersrand (Wits), in partnership with HSI Africa through its Green Monday South Africa programme, launched a Green Menu across all six residence dining h…
Plant-Based Day ModelOpen →
ProVeg School Plates
Multi-school programme •United Kingdom
ProVeg UK built and operates School Plates — the UK's only dedicated national programme supporting school caterers to shift school meals toward more plant-rich options. Since 2018…
Capability BuildingOpen →
NYC Health + Hospitals
Hospital •United States
NYC Health + Hospitals — the largest public hospital system in the United States — made plant-based meals the primary option for patient lunches and dinners across all 11 of its a…
Default SwitchOpen →
Alexandra & Ng Teng Fong Hospitals
Hospital •Singapore
Four hospitals within Singapore's National University Health System (NUHS) progressively introduced plant-based patient meal options from 2018. Alexandra Hospital became the first…
Selective Product EliminationOpen →
Amsterdam Covenant
Multi-institution covenant •Netherlands
On 8 April 2025, twelve major Amsterdam institutions signed a covenant committing collectively to serve at least 60% plant-based protein in their catering operations, alongside ta…
Coalition CommitmentOpen →
Berlin University Canteens
University / Higher education •Germany
Studierendenwerk Berlin — the student services organisation that operates canteens across Berlin's universities — transformed its 18 canteens from a predominantly meat-based to a …
Menu Ratio ShiftOpen →
Cambridge Colleges (CamEATS ZERO)
University / Higher education •United Kingdom
The University of Cambridge implemented a Sustainable Food Policy from 2017 and launched CamEATS ZERO in February 2024, targeting more than 50% plant-based meals across all 31 col…
Menu Ratio ShiftOpen →
Copenhagen House of Food
Municipal / City-wide •Denmark
The City of Copenhagen transformed the food served across approximately 900 public kitchens — preschools, schools, elderly care homes, social institutions, and staff canteens — to…
Capability BuildingOpen →
EGalim and Climate and Resilience Law
National policy / Regulatory body •France
France enacted two pieces of national legislation that progressively extended the legal requirement for vegetarian meals across its public canteen system. EGalim (Law no. 2018-938…
Regulatory ReformOpen →
Erasmus University Rotterdam
University / Higher education •Netherlands
Erasmus University Rotterdam implemented plant-based food change through three distinct and stackable mechanisms over five years. First, a faculty-level default switch making all …
Default SwitchOpen →
Eurest Workplace Cafeterias
Workplace cafeteria / Corporate campus •United Kingdom
Eurest, the workplace catering division of Compass Group UK & Ireland and the UK's largest workplace caterer, undertook a systematic programme to increase the plant-based proporti…
Ingredient SubstitutionOpen →
Finland Defence Forces
Military / Defence •Finland
From autumn 2018, every garrison canteen across the Finnish Defence Forces began serving two fully vegetarian meals per week — one lunch and one dinner on separate days — replacin…
Plant-Based Day ModelOpen →
Food for Education
School (primary / secondary) •Kenya
Food for Education (F4E), a social enterprise founded by Wawira Njiru in 2012, built the largest locally-led school feeding programme in Africa — growing from 25 meals per day at …
Central Kitchen ModelOpen →
Four Bahia Municipalities
School (primary / secondary) •Brazil
Four small municipalities in Bahia, Brazil — Barroca, Biritinga, Serrinha, and Teofilândia — partnered with HSI Brazil to progressively reduce animal-source ingredients in school …
Phased ReductionOpen →
Golden Temple Langar
Religious institution •India
The Guru Ramdas Langar Hall at Sri Harmandir Sahib — the Golden Temple in Amritsar — is one of the world's largest community kitchens, serving approximately 100,000 free vegetaria…
Procurement ReformOpen →
JOIA Aruba by Iberostar
Hospitality / Hotel •Aruba
JOIA Aruba by Iberostar, a luxury resort on Eagle Beach in Aruba and part of the IHG Hotels and Resorts portfolio, transitioned from fewer than 5% plant-based menu offerings acros…
Menu Ratio ShiftOpen →
Ka Ora, Ka Ako
School (primary / secondary) •New Zealand
New Zealand launched Ka Ora, Ka Ako (meaning "when you are well, you can learn") in 2020 — a funded daily school lunch programme serving 242,000 students across 1,013 schools, bui…
Central Kitchen ModelOpen →
LEOC 1000 Vegan Project
Multi-institutional (operator) •Japan
Between 2020 and May 2021, LEOC Executive Chef Hitoshi Sugiura personally visited more than 1,000 institutional canteens across Japan — nursing homes, offices, factories, schools,…
Menu Ratio ShiftOpen →
Lewisham Council
Local government •United Kingdom
Lewisham Council made plant-based food the default at all council-run corporate events and embedded an additional weekly meat-free day into the school catering contract specificat…
Contract SpecificationOpen →
Malmö Municipality
Municipal / City-wide •Sweden
The City of Malmö implemented a sustainable food policy across all municipal food services — preschools, schools, elderly care facilities, and staff canteens — targeting reduced m…
Contract SpecificationOpen →
Nuffield Health / Sodexo
Hospital •United Kingdom
Sodexo UK & Ireland, in partnership with Greener by Default, redesigned the patient and staff menus across all 35 Nuffield Health hospitals to make plant-based options the default…
Default SwitchOpen →
NYC Health + Hospitals
Hospital •United States
NYC Health + Hospitals — the largest public hospital system in the United States — made plant-based meals the primary option for patient lunches and dinners across all 11 of its a…
Default SwitchOpen →
Oxford City Council
Local government •United Kingdom
Oxford City Council passed a unanimous motion to make all internal council catering fully plant-based. All food served at council meetings, events, and internal functions is now p…
Full Plant-Based ImplementationOpen →
Portugal Law 11/2017
National policy / Regulatory body •Portugal
In March 2017, Portugal became the first country in the world to pass national legislation requiring public canteens to provide a daily vegan meal option. The law applies across s…
Regulatory ReformOpen →
ProVeg School Plates
Multi-school programme •United Kingdom
ProVeg UK built and operates School Plates — the UK's only dedicated national programme supporting school caterers to shift school meals toward more plant-rich options. Since 2018…
Capability BuildingOpen →
Salvador Schools
School (primary / secondary) •Brazil
The municipal school system of Salvador, Bahia — Brazil's third-largest city — partnered with Humane Society International Brazil and Alimentação Consciente Brasil (Mercy for Anim…
Ingredient SubstitutionOpen →
Seoul Green Meal Days
School (primary / secondary) •South Korea
The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education introduced Climate-Friendly Meal Days — a city-wide policy requiring all Seoul public schools to serve plant-forward vegetarian or near-…
Plant-Based Day ModelOpen →
Southampton Students’ Union
University / Higher education •United Kingdom
Southampton Students' Union voted to make all SU-operated catering plant-based by default from the 2026/27 academic year, following a student petition and a formal SU council vote…
Full Plant-Based ImplementationOpen →
Sustainable Play Preschool
Early childhood education •Australia
Sustainable Play Preschool in Barnsley, NSW opened in 2021 as Australia's first fully plant-based early learning service — 100% vegan from day one, with all meals and snacks prepa…
Full Plant-Based ImplementationOpen →
Tulane / Lehigh / RPI (Sodexo Pilot)
University / Higher education •United States
A five-week randomised controlled pilot at three US universities — Tulane, Lehigh, and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute — demonstrated that positioning plant-based meals as the de…
Information ArchitectureOpen →
UK Ministry of Defence / ESS (Compass Group)
Military / Defence •United Kingdom
ESS, the Defence, Marine and Aerospace catering subsidiary of Compass Group UK & Ireland, redesigned its core military menu to make 30% of all lunch and dinner dishes plant-forwar…
Ingredient SubstitutionOpen →
University of British Columbia
University / Higher education •Canada
UBC Food Services progressively shifted UBC Vancouver campus dining from approximately 20% plant-based menu items to 55%, with a stated target of 80% by 2025. The change was led i…
Menu Ratio ShiftOpen →
University of North Texas
University / Higher education •United States
The University of North Texas opened Mean Greens Café in 2011 — the first fully vegan dining hall at a US university. From that single pilot location, the university progressively…
Menu Ratio ShiftOpen →
University of the Witwatersrand
University / Higher education •South Africa
The University of the Witwatersrand (Wits), in partnership with HSI Africa through its Green Monday South Africa programme, launched a Green Menu across all six residence dining h…
Plant-Based Day ModelOpen →
USDA 2024 Meal Pattern Update
National policy / Regulatory body •United States
The United States Department of Agriculture updated the meal pattern requirements for federally reimbursed school meals, effective July 2024. The update made it significantly easi…
Regulatory ReformOpen →
Vancouver General Hospital
Hospital •Canada
Vancouver General Hospital ran a six-month Planetary Health Menu Pilot from late 2023 to March 2024, developing more than 20 new plant-forward inpatient menu items in collaboratio…
Menu Ratio ShiftOpen →
Victorian Good Food Policy
National policy / Regulatory body •Australia
In early 2023, the Victorian Department of Health launched the Good Food Policy across all Victorian Government departments, requiring that all food and drinks ordered for interna…
Contract SpecificationOpen →
Waldfriede Hospital / Pauls Kitchen
Hospital •Germany
Waldfriede Hospital in Berlin established Pauls Kitchen — a central production kitchen operating on EAT-Lancet Planetary Health Diet principles — to supply plant-forward meals to …
Central Kitchen ModelOpen →

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