Resources

The Menus of Change website hosts an array of resources, which can be found here, and the Collaborative is pleased to provide these resources for foodservice professionals within and beyond university settings:

2023 Plant-Forward Opportunity Report

A Datassential Plant-Forward Opportunity report created in partnership with The Culinary Institute of America, Food for Climate League, and the Menus of Change University Research Collaborative that takes a look at the pulse of consumers on the topic of plant-forward eating through the exploration of sentiments and behaviors concerning plant-based foods, plant-forward menus, sustainability, health, and more.

Faith in Fat Executive Summary

Fat still has a bad reputation in most eaters’ minds. Based on this observation, the MCURC Research Working group built on a Rutgers University students pilot project to evaluate the perception of fat among university students. This Executive Summary offers a unique perspective on the MCURC research model, as well as opportunities for impact to promote a healthy approach to nutritional education on fat within colleges and universities.

 

Olive Oil and the Plant-Forward Kitchen, A Sauce Discovery Project

This report is a joint project of The Culinary Institute of America and The Menus of Change University Research Collaborative with the support of the International Olive Council. It involved more than 30 members of the MCURC Executive Chefs’ Committee who set out to uncover the most-promising, lesser-known olive oil-based sauces that could easily be adopted by their dining operations. This project shines a bright light on a collection of dishes and flavor strategies that deserve wider recognition within campus dining and beyond.

MCURC Collective Impact Initiative: 2020 Early Learnings Report

This report highlights key insights from the early phases of MCURC’s Collective Impact initiative, and it outlines potential paths to progress as we move towards our ambitious target of a 25 percent reduction in food-related GHG emissions by 2030. In our case, we track our member institutions’ combined protein portfolio over time, but we hope this document is a helpful tool for any organization pursuing the power of collective impact.

 

The (Almost) Perfect Plant-Forward University

MOC Principles Implementation Schedule

This tool will help foodservice professionals, food literacy leaders, nutrition/health/sustainability educators, and others in college and university foodservice settings educate your communities about the Menus of Change Principles of Healthy, Sustainable Menus by integrating activities into existing campus events as well as seasonal and holiday tie-ins.

This beautiful, insights-packed publication offers a framework for stakeholder engagement, along with inspiration, recipes, and practical strategies, all in the name of working toward an optimally plant-forward dining hall and learning community on your campus.

 

Edgy Veggies Toolkit

DISH Study Executive Summary

People think healthy foods are depriving and bland, and emphasizing the healthy attributes can lead people to avoid them. Describing healthy food with indulgent and fun language, on the other hand, can positively influence people’s mindsets and expectations, leading them to eat more healthy food and enjoy it. This toolkit gives users the resources they need to add edgy descriptions to dishes that can benefit most from indulgent language.

 

Globally-Inspired, Plant-Forward Recipes and Inspirations for Campus Menus

Menus of Change in Action: MCURC Culinary Operations Best Practices

MCURC chefs, operators, and directors are applying a number of different Menus of Change principles, and they all have unique challenges and traction at different rates based on various factors. With that come patterns about how best to operationalize the principles and where the greatest barriers and opportunities lie. Leverage the findings in this resource in order to learn from the best practices, challenges, and success stories.

MCURC Executive Chefs Committee has published this collection of plant-forward recipes to help bring the delicious flavors and influences from around the world to your dining program. This mouthwatering collection of recipes will inspire you to get creative, and share new dishes from every corner of the globe with your students and customers.

 

Gap Analysis Tool

Food Waste Research in College and University Settings

This resource compiles applicable college and university published food waste research and a list of national resources to help advance food waste reduction programs on campuses nationwide. If you have research or resources to add, please submit them to smunz@stanford.edu.

This resource equips any operator looking to implement Menus of Change Principles of Healthy, Sustainable Menus to conduct a self-assessment of both areas to improve and areas to celebrate with regard to offering healthy, sustainable menus. It also helps users develop an action plan for addressing the areas most in need of improvement.

 

Protein Flip Strategies for College and University Foodservice

This resource provides insights and menu ideas to empower campus dining chefs to implement the concept of The Protein Flip, which is a hybrid infographic/white paper produced by The Culinary Institute of America in collaboration with the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health--Department of Nutrition to illustrate the urgency from a human and planetary health standpoint for "flipping" the role of protein on Menus. The full Protein Flip resource can be found here, and additional protein strategies and information are available on the Menus of Change website.