18 Aug Reducing meat consumption in restaurants through menu manipulation
For public health reasons if nothing else, I believe it is helpful to think about strategies for encouraging cafes and restaurants to serve more plant-based foods (and less meat) in their dishes. This study by a group of researchers at Wageningen University [1] provides one such potentially useful strategy.
The idea is that on restaurant menus, food items are listed with the default options being vegetarian. Meat options are also available, but they are not the default option. The study also tested a strategy of increased effort required to order the meat option and also increased financial burdens for ordering the meat option on a ‘surprise’ chef’s menu. However, in their study, these additional burdens did not lead to increased consumption of the vegetarian option and decreased the overall frequency that the chef’s menu was ordered at all.
Anecdotal evidence from menus in Australia in 2024
Intuitively, it seems to me that this strategy could work. I recall seeing numerous menu items where a vegetarian option was listed on the menu as a default option, with eggs, or meat as an extra option for that dish. In my experience, this has usually been accompanied by an increased cost (such as ‘add grilled chicken for $7’)
However, I am wondering if it would simply incentivise consumers to choose other items on the menu that had meat as the default option.
I also think that another compromising factor is the imperative to eat protein in every meal. Consumers who are conscious of this need may favour meat options from the menu (despite the price burdens perhaps). However, this could be overcome by providing plant-forward protein sources for the default meals, making this less of an issue (despite the creative challenges of such an endeavour).
Although the evidence for eating a protein-rich diet is supported by research bodies such as the CSIRO, there is also a great deal of evidence for the fact that eating mostly plant-based diets reduces inflammation in human bodies. And this can be a significant component of healthy ageing. I feel this issue needs to be resolved.
I am also wondering how this strategy could be promoted to the people in restaurants responsible for designing the menus (in practical terms).
References:
- Machiel J. Reinders, Emily P. Bouwman, Marleen C. Onwezen (2024) Reducing meat consumption in restaurants: Exploring the default mechanism in a surprise menu, combined with effort and price incentives, Journal of Environmental Psychology. accessed online << https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272494424001750?dgcid=rss_sd_all >>
Image credit:
“The French Laundry – Vegetarian Tasting Menu” by pvsbond is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.
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