Canadian universities aim to boost plant-based options on menus in 2024 to meet student demand

Before he went to Western University, Parum Patel's family warned him that vegetarian food on campus would be hard to find. But now, Patel says, all he has to do is walk into one the school's seven dining halls.

At the university in London, Ont., vegan chicken fingers, sweet potato stew and chili tofu are just a few of the options on the menu.

"It's nice not to have to resort to cold or pre-made foods all the time. There are always options for warm, fresh food," said Patel, a first-year student.

Universities across the country are introducing more plant-based food in their dining halls, something institutions say is an ongoing demand from students for more variety and a larger push for more sustainable practices.

At Western, students are the driving force behind the increase in vegan and vegetarian meals. The university set a goal of having a 40 per cent plant-based menu at all dining halls by the new year, but it hit the target — and at some points even surpassed it — this year. A fully vegan outlet will open in 2024, and the school wants to reach a 50 per cent target in 2025.

Colin Porter, director of hospitality services at Western, said when students initially complained about the lack of nutritious and healthy options, the school had to "take responsibility and align with sustainability values."

The push to have more plant-based menus on campuses is happening across the country. At the University of British Columbia, 55 per cent of the food in dining halls is plant-based, and the Vancouver school hopes to reach a goal of 80 per cent by 2025. Also that year, Concordia University in Montreal plans to reduce its purchase of meat, dairy and eggs by 30 per cent.

Similarly, Dalhousie University in Halifax aims to offer a menu with at least 50 per cent plant-based food options by 2030. And while plant-based options represented less than half of the University of Toronto's food services offerings two years ago, they now account for 61 per cent.

In addition to meeting student demand, training chefs to prepare these meals was a big challenge, said some in the food services field.

"The plant-based aspect is often the side dish to a meat, chicken or seafood dish, and not the star of the show," said David Speight, UBC's food services executive chef and culinary director.

Western University's executive chef, Kristian Crossen, agreed. Even as professionals in the industry, many did not know how to prepare a full plant-based meal because it was not on the curriculum when they went to culinary school, he said.

Both UBC and Western teamed up with chefs who specialize in plant-based cuisine to learn recipes, build a new skill set and bridge the knowledge gap of cooking without meat, dairy and seafood.

Dietitians joined the effort to ensure the meals were rich in protein and nutritionally balanced.

That collaboration allowed chefs to expand their repertoire and serve the community, but also enjoy the process of trial and error with the students as an educational venture.