Cultivating the long-term well-being
of all people and the planet—
one student, one meal at a time.
Our Mission
The MCURC is a collaboration of forward-thinking scholars, foodservice leaders, executive chefs, and administrators for colleges and universities who are accelerating efforts to move people toward healthier, more sustainable, and delicious foods using evidence-based research, education, and innovation.
The MCURC leverages the unique position of universities to advance these types of life-long food choices among students—many of whom will be influencers that can impact the world’s food systems—by connecting a diversity of insights from academic researchers, administrators/dining operators, students, nutrition and sustainability managers, and other stakeholders.
The Initiative
The Menus of Change University Research Collaborative (MCURC) is a nationwide network of colleges and universities using campus dining halls as living laboratories for behavior change. We advance a groundbreaking research pipeline focused on plant-forward diets, food waste reduction, and the drivers of consumer food choices. We also co-create educational resources related to accelerating the implementation of the Menus of Change Principles of Healthy, Sustainable Menus across the foodservice industry.
The Collaborative is an extension of Menus of Change®: The Business of Healthy, Sustainable, Delicious Food Choices, a groundbreaking initiative from The Culinary Institute of America and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Menus of Change works to realize a long-term, practical vision integrating optimal nutrition and public health, environmental stewardship and restoration, and social responsibility concerns within the foodservice industry and the culinary profession.
