Meal selection when plant-based food is presented as the default for a catered event

Current food consumption patterns are unsustainable and will prevent humanity from staying within established boundaries for anthropogenic change. Behavioral change is a potentially high impact strategy for staying within boundaries. The goal of our work was to explore the effectiveness of a plant-based default in increasing plant-based meal consumption. Data collection was performed at a catered event on a college campus. Eligibility of individual participants included being 18 years or older and an invitation to RSVP for an enrolled event. Participants were randomly assigned to one of two groups: the control group received a RSVP form that presented a meat meal as the default catering option whereas the intervention group received a form that presented a plant-based meal as the default. The primary outcome of interest in each group was the proportion of participants who selected plant-based meals.