There is a growing consensus among food and health policy leaders in America that transitioning to a plant-based diet is essential for our health, and that of the planet.
At institutional settings and innovative restaurants nationwide, T-bone steaks, quarter chickens, and slabs of baby backs are slowly being replaced by healthier, more colorful foods.
Imagine your meat served as a condiment, or meat chopped up and mixed with vegetables. Or blended burgers, where meat is just one of the ingredients, together with vegetables, legumes, or nuts.
Plates like these are already a reality at hundreds of institutional settings and corporate offices across the country, not to mention at countless innovative restaurants operated by chefs and restauranteurs who are at the cutting edge of change.
The influential Culinary Institute of America (CIA), in partnership with Harvard University’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health, has been collaborating for 15 years now to examine the science on public health and the environment, and to integrate their findings into the fabric of our food service industries.
An annual report will be released to the public June 14, in conjunction with the opening day of a three-day Menus of Change conference at the CIA’s Hyde Park, New York, campus.
Discussions are expected to further what can be described as a sea change for the American diet that the group has dubbed “The Protein Flip.” Their suggested strategies, available online, are both a treasure trove of practical advice for home cooks, and a set of practical steps for industry that are already being implemented in commercial kitchens nationwide.
