Publications

Reflection Paper:

The Social Sciences and Humanities contribution to the transition to a more plant-based Food system (in Danish).

User perspectives on plant-based food

A report on the results of the pilot project on canteen use and plant-based food in the SCIENCE university canteens.

The report summarizes the results of the pilot project “A more plant-based canteen”, which investigated the reactions to the shift toward more plant-based canteens at UCPH SCIENCE in the autumn of 2023. This investigation was built on a survey (n=1800) among students and employees across UCPH SCIENCE, as well as on interviews with canteen users and conversations with different actors related to the management of the canteens.

The report highlights the challenges related to running and managing the canteens at SCIENCE, as well as the experiences from changing the Gumle Canteen to the meat-free concept “Wicked Rabbit”. It also analyzes user perspectives on canteen use and reactions to more plant-based food in the canteens.

The report finds that while there are several challenges related to managing the UCPH canteens, the process of shifting the Gumle canteen was relatively successful and hasn’t resulted in fewer customers. A preliminary analysis of the survey data finds that there are very different terms of canteen use for cf. students and employees. In short, students are less present on campus and have very limited incomes, both of which may limit the frequency and scope of their canteen use. Interestingly, meat avoidance is almost as common among employees as among students and much more common in the survey sample than in the general adult population of Denmark.

In the appendixes, anyone interested can find both details related to what questions were asked in the survey, an overview of the survey answers, as well as a more detailed description of how the data was produced and analysed.

Researchers and students interested in analyzing the survey data for research or study purposes can access the raw data by contacting Green Solutions Centre (att. Mette Frimodt-Møller at memo@science.ku.dk). Questions about the report's contents can be directed to the pilot project manager, Morten Wendler Jørgensen, at mwj@plen.ku.dk.