Best Concepts: Future 50 Foods station offers a multi-cultural menu using sustainable ingredients

Future 50 Foods is a new concept created by the marketing and culinary teams at George Mason University (GMU) using delicious, high-quality menu items inspired by the 50 sustainable foods identified in a report issued by the World Wildlife Fund and Knorr Foods, and embraced four years ago by GMU’s dining services provider Sodexo as the basis of a sustainable recipe program. The difference between that first foray, or even subsequent special events based on Future 50 Foods ingredients, and the GMU station is that it is a permanent fixture in GMU’s two residential dining halls, Southside and Ike’s, where they replaced the existing salad, soup and deli bars.

For that advance in promoting Future 50 Foods, and hence healthful dining (for both individuals and the planet), GMU’s Future 50 Foods station has been named the Best Station Concept category winner in the 2023 FM Best Concept Awards program.

The Future 50 Foods menu reflects not only the ingredients of a sustainable future, but also ingredients that are representative of the cultures and diversity of the GMU campus community, allowing students to explore different cuisines from around the world. From Middle Eastern couscous salad to Polish potato salad, and Hungarian goulash to French onion soup, the menu offers a wide variety of dishes that will give students an opportunity to try something new and exciting.

The project began in March 2022, when GMU Dining conducted a survey to identify the overall satisfaction rate for meal options served to students. More than 7,000 students took part in the survey, which identified a need for healthier, more nutrient-rich meals, as well as allergen-free and religious-friendly options. Over 90% of the respondents were ages 19 to 24 years, a Gen Z demographic whose culinary interests show a strong bent toward what is referred to as flexitarian dining, and the menu at Future 50 Foods reflects this trend.

The same Gen Z respondents also reported making a choice to go meatless one or more days a week (79%) and preferring a more plant-forward diet (65%). Additional feedback received during Student Culinary Council meetings echoed the student survey results.

“We had a vision—one that would embrace a sustainable future and appeal to the flavor needs of the students,” Marketing Director Sofya Vetrova said. Executive Chef Jacqueline Craig echoed this sentiment. “Let’s think big," she said. “The culinary opportunities with this venue are never-ending.”

The Future 50 Foods offered at this platform have been selected based on their high nutritional value, low environmental impact, and flavor.

Mason Dining already provides a wide range of food options, including an average of some 400 entrees on any given day, and Future 50 Foods is no exception. Diners can build a salad from fresh and culturally diverse ingredients to their liking, or they can choose an original chef-inspired couscous dish and add grilled veggies to customize it for themselves. They can try soups made with the ingredients of the 50 foods from all over the world, or build a Future Foods sandwich with lean, high-protein vegetables and grain bowls filled with roasted ingredients.

The rotation of ingredients and dishes allows students to have access to different types of food, keeping them engaged and interested in their meal choices. The rotating menu is not only an effective way for students to explore different cultures through their food, but it also gives them an opportunity to learn about different ingredients and cooking styles.

In keeping with a strong commitment to flavor and interest, the culinary team creates unique sauces and spreads to add vibrant flavor to the Future 50 Food dishes. Chefs use urban cultivator micro-greens in homemade items, creating unique and flavorful combinations that can be used to enhance any meal. For example, add-ins to hummus—both zesty and savory—provide students with instant variety, allowing for an exploration of flavors and combinations not experienced before.

Instrumental to the success of the program was the strategic messaging and platform creativity developed by the Mason Dining marketing team. The original concept design mirrors the 11 ingredient categories found in the Future 50 Foods report and support columns near the platform are attractively wrapped with images depicting these sections. Simultaneously, a social media campaign was launched to inform students through Instagram stories and posts about plant-forward options available in dining halls. 

Future 50 Foods also incorporates fresh, locally grown greens from the campus greenhouse as Mason Dining has committed to reducing environmental footprint and carbon emissions by sourcing food from sustainable and local sources with a goal of 25% of food being locally sourced. Additionally, the team is planning to add locally sourced honey produced by The Honeybee Initiative, a project supported by GMU’s School of Business.

In this way, Mason Dining’s efforts not only help promote local farmers and businesses, using their produce in dining halls, but also give students an insight into the variety of ingredients used in making their favorite dishes.

To better educate and equip students to choose sustainable foods, Mason Dining hosted a Carbon Indicator lunch where students were able to gauge how much carbon was emitted in the process of obtaining each menu item. Future 50 Foods have a low-carbon impact and were labeled with a green indicator. Other foods such as meat and dairy items, use more land and water, resulting in larger carbon footprints, and so were labeled with a red indicator.

Photos courtesy of Sodexo/Mason Dining

Above: Station signage serves an educational purpose, providing info on sustainability issues.