ArticleThe international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity2024
Effects of increasing the availability of vegetarian options on main meal choices, meal offer satisfaction and liking: a pre-post analysis in a French university cafeteria.
Article in The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Higher education institutions and the use of marketing-mix choice architecture strategies to encourage plant-rich menu options and sustainable dietary patterns: a scoping review.Frontiers in nutrition · 2026Pooled it
- The effect of increasing availability of vegetarian meals on their sales in worksite cafeterias: a stepped-wedge cluster randomised controlled trial.The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 2026Trial
- Sustainability in university restaurants: a scoping review of evaluation focus and strategies.Journal of health, population, and nutrition · 2026Article
- Sustainable taste: a conceptual integration of sensory, sociocultural, and structural dimensions for interdisciplinary research and practice.Frontiers in nutrition · 2026Review
- [Choice architecture in institutional food services: strategies to promote sustainable nutrition].Bundesgesundheitsblatt, Gesundheitsforschung, Gesundheitsschutz · 2025Review
- Chefs Saddle Up-Perceptions of Horse Meat as a Sustainable Gastronomic Alternative in France.Foods (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundChanging the food environment is an important public health lever for encouraging sustainable food choices. Targeting the availability of vegetarian main meals served in cafeterias substantially affects food choice, but acceptability has never been assessed. We examined the effects of an availability intervention at a French university cafeteria on students' main meal choices, meal offer satisfaction and liking.
methodsA four-week controlled trial was conducted in a university cafeteria in Dijon, France. During the two-week control period, vegetarian main meals constituted 24% of the offer. In the subsequent two-week intervention period, this proportion increased to 48%, while all the other menu items remained unchanged. Students were not informed of the change. Student choices were tracked using production data, and daily paper ballots were used to assess student satisfaction with the meal offer and liking of the main meal they chose (score range [1;5]). Nutritional quality, environmental impact, and cost of production of meal choices were calculated for each lunchtime. Food waste was measured over 4 lunchtimes during control and intervention periods. An online questionnaire collected student feedback at the end of the study.
resultsDoubling availability of vegetarian main meals significantly increased the likelihood of choosing vegetarian options (OR = 2.57, 95% CI = [2.41; 2.74]). Responses of the paper ballots (n = 18,342) indicated slight improvements in meal offer satisfaction from 4.05 ± 0.92 to 4.07 ± 0.93 (p = 0.028) and in liking from 4.09 ± 0.90 to 4.13 ± 0.92 (p < 0.001) during control and intervention periods, respectively. The end-of-study questionnaire (n = 510) revealed that only 6% of students noticed a change the availability of vegetarian main meals. The intervention led to a decrease in the environmental impact of the main meals chosen, a slight decrease in nutritional quality, a slight increase in meal costs and no change in food waste.
conclusionsDoubling availability of vegetarian main meals in a university cafeteria resulted in a twofold increase in their selection, with students reporting being more satisfied and liking the main meals more during the intervention period. These results suggest that serving an equal proportion of vegetarian and nonvegetarian main meals could be considered in French university cafeterias to tackle environmental issues.
trial registrationStudy protocol and analysis plan were pre-registered on the Open Science Framework ( https://osf.io/pf3x7/ ).
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