Citations
Below are citations for the information on this website and contained in the Greener by Default one pager.
79% of Gen Zers are “eager to go meatless” more often
Bernhard Schroeder, “How Generation Z Is Creating The Opportunity Of A Lifetime. Pay Attention As This Is Not A Fad But A Deep Long-Lasting Trend,” Forbes digital, September 13, 2019.
More than half of Millennials identify as flexitarians
Nils Garrett-Wunsch, “Share of US consumers who were interested in vegetarian, vegan, or flexitarian diets in 2018, by generation,” Statista digital, November 26, 2020.
70% of Millennials are more likely to work for a company with a strong sustainability plan
Adele Peters, “Most Millennials would take a pay cut to work at an environmentally responsible company,” Fast Company digital, February 14, 2019.
Four of the most expensive health conditions for employers are related to diet, including heart disease and diabetes. Combined, lost productivity from heart disease, diabetes, and stroke cost $525 billion annually.
Garrett R. Beeler et al., “Absenteeism and Employer Cost Associated With Chronic Diseases and Health Risk Factors in the US Workforce,” Preventing Chronic Disease 13 (October 2016).
Plant-forward meals can cut health care costs and absenteeism while improving employee well-being and productivity.
Ulka Agarwal et al., “A multicenter randomized controlled trial of a nutrition intervention program in a multiethnic adult population in the corporate setting reduces depression and anxiety and improves quality of life: GEICO study,” American Journal of Health Promotion 29 no. 4 (March 2015): 245-254.
“Lactose Normal”
Food Empowerment Project founder lauren Ornelas coined the term "lactose normal" to reflect the fact that most people of the global majority are unable to digest lactose and there is nothing “abnormal” about it.
Globally 60 to 75% of people are lactose intolerant
Storhaug CL, Fosse SK, Fadnes LT (October 2017). "Country, regional, and global estimates for lactose malabsorption in adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis". The Lancet. Gastroenterology & Hepatology. 2 (10): 738–746.
Approximately 30-50 million US adults experience some degree of lactose intolerance, the majority of whom are people of color.
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. n.d. “Lactose Intolerance: Information for Health Care Providers.”
31% of non-white Americans have recently reduced their meat consumption, compared to 23% of Americans overall.
Justin McCarthy and Scott DeKoster, “Nearly One in Four in U.S. Have Cut Back on Eating Meat,” Gallup digital, January 27, 2020.
Research shows that restaurants that transition to plant-based menus can significantly cut food costs.
Kate MacKenzie, “An Apple A Day Might Actually Keep the Doctor Away,” Washington Post digital, January 27, 2023.
Katrina Fox, “These Restaurants Removed Animal Products From Their Menus And Went Vegan - Here Are The Results,” Forbes digital, April 4, 2018.
Serving plant-based defaults can increase their take rate by 60%
Pelle G Hansen, Mathilde Schilling, Mia S Malthesen, “Nudging healthy and sustainable food choices: three randomized controlled field experiments using a vegetarian lunch-default as a normative signal,” Journal of Public Health, V 43 (2), pp. 392–397, June 2021.
Plant-based defaults can decrease food’s carbon footprint by 40% and water footprint by 24%.
Resource Guide Page 37
Over the course of a year, a company with 1,000 employees that serves lunch every weekday can save over 9 million gallons of water and 350,000 kg of CO2 eq.
Resource Guide Page 37
Our food system accounts for over ⅓ of all greenhouse gas emissions
“Food systems account for over one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions” United Nations News digital, March 9, 2021.
Adopting plant-forward diets is necessary in order to meet the Paris Climate Agreement
“Food in the Anthropocene: the EAT-Lancet Commission on healthy diets from sustainable food systems,” The Lancet, January 16, 2019.
Michael Clark et al., “Global food system emissions could preclude achieving the 1.5° and 2°C climate change targets,” Science 370 (6517), pp. 705-708, November 6, 2020.
J. Poore and T. Nemecek, “Reducing food’s environmental impacts through producers and consumers,” Science 360 (6392), pp. 987-992, June 1, 2018.