HSUS’ College and University Protein Sustainability Scorecard seeks to provide transparency around plant-based goals and help to create a more sustainable futureHSUS’ College and University Protein Sustainability Scorecard seeks to provide transparency around plant-based goals and help to create a more sustainable future

Many college and university dining programs have set comprehensive goals around sustainability, often incorporating some sort of commitment to increase plant-based proteins on campus. But how many of those operations are actually making progress on those goals? That’s the question the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) set out to answer with its recent College and University Protein Sustainability Scorecard.

One pillar of sustainable dining can be incorporating more plant-based fare onto the menu. According to the United Nations Environment Government Programme, animal greenhouse gas emissions, feed production and other factors associated with the animal agriculture industry, account for about 60% of food related greenhouse gas emissions and 14%-20% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

In addition, according to a report published by the National Library of Medicine, following a predominately plant-based diet may lead to about 75% less emissions.

Many colleges and universities have been quick to get on board with plant-based offerings, with some setting goals to transition a significant portion of their menus to be plant-based. And some have made significant progress on such goals. For instance, the University of Colorado, Boulder’s menu is made up of 50% plant-based meals with a commitment to have 75% of options offered be plant-based in the next few years.

These goals are important; they showcase the movement in the industry toward a more sustainable future. But what is even more important is taking steps to accomplish those goals and being transparent with diners about the operation’s current state of sustainable dining.

“Transparency and follow-through really are everything when it comes to sustainable change,” said Kate Jarvis, a manager on HSUS’ foodservice innovation team within farm animal protection. “So, it's one thing to publicly state that you have this goal that might be years out, but it's another thing to actually see actionable steps and progress being made towards that goal.”

College and universities are, on balance, making strides towards their plant-based goals

And the University of Colorado, Boulder, is one operation that has, in fact, made strides towards its goals. The university offers plant-based meal options at every dining station, incorporating a variety of plant-based proteins. Plant-based options are also offered even at breakfast and dessert and through sides and add-ons. The university is actively tracking its plant-based meal percentage as well as greenhouse gas emissions associated with meals and proteins served.

The university’s work in the sustainable dining space earned the operation the top score on HSUS’s first College and University Protein Sustainability Scorecard. The university earned a score of 360 with a grade of A+

Jarvis said that one of the things that set the university apart was its clearly defined goal set with a glide path to ensure it stays on track. They also invest in staff training and education around plant-based fare.

“They've done a lot of work to ensure that their staff is on board with this goal. So instead of it just being, you know, maybe the director of dining implementing this and expecting everyone to kind of follow along,” she said. “They've really taken the time to ensure that their staff understands the benefits of plant based options and feels comfortable preparing them.”

HSUS launched the College and University Protein Sustainability scorecard at the beginning of 2025, after gathering data from the largest self-operated colleges and universities in the U.S. Through the data gathering process, the HSUS team focused on transparency, goals and a plan of action as it related the operations plant-based efforts. The survey allowed operations to self-report and then provide menus and purchasing data to verify what was reported. If the survey was not completed, the HSUS team completed it for the operation with publicly available information. Then, HSUS provided each operation with individualized feedback to help them improve their scores and ultimately create a more sustainable future.

HSUS’s protein scorecards stress accountability and transparency

Protein Sustainability Scorecards are not a new concept for HSUS, whose Foodservice Management Company Protein Sustainability Scorecard is in its fourth year. But for this report, the team wanted to focus specifically on self-operated college and universities, due to diner demand and flexibility in menu development.

“While our team works across a variety of different sectors,” said Jarvis, “we decided to focus this report on colleges and universities because they typically have the most flexibility and resources when it comes to menu development, as well as the highest demand from their customers.”

The biggest goal of the scorecard is promoting transparency and the team has found that its company scorecard has become a helpful tool in a number of ways. It encourages companies to set these goals and expand their plant-based offerings. But it also gave the HSUS team an opportunity to keep track of those companies that had set goals but hadn’t followed through with publishing results or progress.

“That scorecard really helped us to capture those that had yet to set a goal and to report on those that already had and what progress was happening,” said Jarvis.

That is, at least, what the team had noticed with its company scorecards, but they wanted to expand their reach and dig deeper into one segment of the industry. So, the team sought out to recreate that tool specifically for colleges and universities.

“We find that these scorecards are again just a really effective way to capture what progress is being made. And hold these big companies or big universities accountable to the goals that they have stated.” said Jarvis. “It's just a nice way to let potential accounts or the students that are going to be joining these universities, just letting them know who is actually committed to making changes.”

Jarvis said that reports like this one, guided by transparency and accountability, are vital in creating actual sustainable change.

“It's often very challenging for these big institutions to actually make those changes. And so, if they are feeling any kind of pressure to have more sustainable food service operations, they might feel inclined to just say that they're going to work on it, but not really have any plan in place to actually achieve those goals,” she said.

The protein sustainability scorecard helps combat this issue by assessing college and university’s actions towards their goals.

 “Without transparency, without a report like this, that actually is providing information to everyone on what's actually happening behind the scenes and how they are moving towards their goals,” said Jarvis. “A lot of these bigger schools or bigger companies can just kind of say it's something they're working on vaguely but not actually have any plan in place to do so.”

The current state of college and university foodservice sustainability

The scorecard also presents a look at the current state of sustainability in college and university foodservice, and the team noted many positive trends out of the report.

“With this report, we were able to see how many universities are doing incredible things by way of making their menus more sustainable and more plant-based. A lot of these universities were so creative and innovative and actually committed,” said Jarvis.

Jarvis believes that plant-forward fare will continue to grow and that colleges and universities seem to be leading the way in plant-based menu innovation.

One challenge that Jarvis noticed through the data, is that student education and marketing around plant-based fare. Specifically, Jarvis said operations are looking at how to create a more wide-ranging appeal with their plant-forward options, not marketing just to vegans or those who follow a plant-based diet.

“I think that's probably where a lot of universities are looking to start developing a bit more is just doing a lot more of that education and demonstrating students all of the incredible personal health benefits that they can reap from just introducing a few more plant-based options to their diet,” she said. “And, all of the incredible environmental benefits, of course.”

HSUS does a lot of work, throughout all segments of the on-site dining industry, with helping operations introduce more plant-based fare to their menus.  And one thing Jarvis has noticed during conversations with colleges and universities is that sometimes operations are hesitant to change their menus when they don’t have a large vegan population on campus.

“We're always having to remind them and reassure them that vegan food is not just for vegans. When we're encouraging you to add more plant-based options, it's not just to make your vegan students happier,” she said. “But it's really to kind of expand everyone's palate and show them that good food is good food, and this food just happens to be plant-based.”

One way to seamlessly introduce plant-based proteins is by incorporating global cuisine.

“A lot of cuisines are naturally plant based. A lot of dishes we find are naturally found without meat or animal products, and so just by bringing in more like global influence, it’s kind of like a natural way to introduce plant-based

options,” said Jarvis.

Jarvis said she believes that one of the biggest barriers to implementing more plant-based offerings is the perception surrounding plant-based food.

“The biggest barrier is just the perception that vegan food is not for people who aren't vegan. One of the biggest things we're always trying to dispel is just that myth,” said Jarvis. “We're always trying to remind people that plant-based food is for everyone to enjoy. You don't need to overhaul your menus or your diets to enjoy them.”

And small steps eventually add up, with Jarvis noting that a couple of swaps of meat-based protein to plant-based protein a week, can be a fantastic place to start.

"Stay tuned for more coverage of this report including insights from the top performing universities.