2016 Annual Report

I. Menus of Change in 2016 3 II. Executive Summary 4 State of the Plate and Score Key 5 Dashboard 6 Our Vision 7 GPS: A Model for Change 9 III. Green Shoots: Delicious Signs of Change 10 IV. Impact Survey 11 V. Business Imperatives: The Changing Calculus on Costs, 12 Risks, and Opportunities VI. Demographics and Consumer Preferences: Issues, 16 Trends, and Changing Appetites VII. Nutrition, Health, Sustainability, and Food Ethics: 21 Science and Policy Highlights VIII. Principles of Healthy, Sustainable Menus 41 IX. Case Studies: The Selling of Healthy, Sustainable, 46 Delicious Food Choices Inspiration from the Menus of Change 50 University Research Collaborative X. Resources 53 CONTENTS XI: Advisory Councils 56 XII: Credits 58 2 increases to only 2º C, just below the level that would trigger the most challenging changes in our I. MENUS OF weather, water availability, and sea levels. That agreement set goals that nations can only achieve CHANGE IN this if we change the way we grow food and the foods we choose to eat, and also committed to a plan that will address the risks that climate change 2016 and water scarcity pose for food companies. This year’s report provides briefings on both water and This past year, environmental and nutrition science climate issues as well as a set of Principles of and public policy converged right at the center of Healthy, Sustainable Menus that can guide you in our plates. reducing the carbon footprint of the meals you serve. The scientific advisory committee for the 2015 Both the report of the DGAs scientific advisory Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGAs) released committee and the COP21 agreement recognize its final report on the state of the American diet the tremendous change needed in what we choose and what we should be eating, the basis for official to serve and our customers choose to eat. As this dietary guidelines that are revised every five years. year’s Dashboard shows, changes in what we are The report raised awareness among both policy eating continue to shift in the right direction, but makers and the general public about the same the pace of change is modest. And in the past nutrition and environmental science that underpins year, the foodservice industry has begun to fully Menus of Change, citing both the health benefits recognize the rising cost from climate change, of plant-forward dietary patterns such as the water scarcity, lack of visibility into supply chains, Mediterranean diet and also the environmental and other environmental factors. While change benefits of eating a larger share of plant-based foods. has been slow in the past, the stage is now set for substantial improvements. Investors already are Also, the committee provided definitive answers pricing in the value of companies that pay attention about whether Americans are eating enough to environmental concerns and actively manage protein—we get more than we need—and what their supply chains—and they are expecting all is an appropriate limit for added sugar. Based on companies to do the same. their findings, the latest DGAs note for the first time that many Americans eat too much red meat and The Menus of Change initiative, a partnership of that adults should consume less sugar each day The Culinary Institute of America and the Harvard than is found in a typical can of regular soda. The T.H. Chan School of Public Health, aims to help 2016 Menus of Change Annual Report provides you do just this. It does the essential, difficult, executive briefings on protein as well as strategies and unprecedented work of integrating the latest for reducing meat and sugar in your menus and findings from both nutrition and environmental operations. And the menusofchange.org website science into a single set of recommendations to provides more information about how to “flip” the help foodservice and culinary professionals to role of protein on the plate to deliver delicious, make better choices and to successfully navigate healthy, sustainable, and profitable results. the rapidly changing landscape. The committee also found that Americans should This annual report is a part of that mission. It aims to nearly double the amount of fish and seafood we eat. advance a long-term, practical vision that integrates Diners choose to eat more of their fish and seafood in optimal nutrition, environmental stewardship and restaurants than in any other place, and responsibly restoration, and social responsibility within the sourcing the right types can be a complex matter. foodservice industry. This year’s annual report provides an executive briefing on fish and seafood as well as guidance to The CIA and Harvard Chan School invite businesses help you choose wisely for your customers. to use this report to measure their progress and to navigate new and complex challenges. Not all In Paris, the United Nations held its annual culinary professionals and foodservice companies Conference of the Parties (COP), which brings the will take the same path forward. But more and more world’s nations together to find ways to address have a similar goal: to lead successful businesses climate change and greenhouse gas emissions. serving healthy, sustainable, and delicious food. Remarkably, this 21st meeting resulted in the first-ever global agreement on how to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and hold temperature 3 II. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: A TASTE OF WHAT’S AHEAD IN THE PAST YEAR, TERMS LIKE “PLANT-BASED,” “PLANT-CENTRIC,” AND “VEGETABLE-FORWARD” ALL STARTED TO ENTER THE MAINSTREAM OF THE NATIONAL LEXICON. One of the biggest recent trends is not only menus A combination of factors is fueling this gradual but entire restaurant concepts that put plants first. transition to more plant-based diets. One is that Some of the shift revolves around a celebration consumers are starting to become more concerned of produce itself, which can be seen in the crop about the health effects of frequent consumption of decidedly plant-centric cookbooks that have of red and processed meat, in part due to the emerged from top chefs in the past year. April World Health Organization (WHO) announcement Bloomfield—best known for her cookbook A about the association with increased risk for certain Girl and Her Pig, as well as her Michelin-starred types of cancer. (Unfortunately, as described in restaurant The Spotted Pig—authored A Girl and this report’s consumer attitudes issue brief, the Her Greens, revealing her love of produce. Michael way the WHO’s findings were explained in the Anthony of Gramercy Tavern released V Is for press led to much confusion.) Second is a growing Vegetable, which Anthony has emphasized is not understanding of the environmental impacts of a vegetarian or vegan cookbook but inspiration for raising livestock. “vegetable cookery.” The book (which won a 2016 James Beard Foundation book award) aims to help Never before the past year has awareness been so consumers think about re-proportioning their eating strong about the connection between the health of habits, with meat as a sometimes accompaniment our bodies and the health of the planet with regard to a plate filled with vegetables. to food choices. A national survey released in March by the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future These trends are especially inspiring in light of data and Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research found from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) that 74 percent of American adults believe that the showing that three quarters of Americans fail to new dietary guidelines should include environmental meet the daily recommendations for fruit intake, implications and support sustainable agriculture and the same is true of fourth fifths of Americans practices. It also found that 70 percent of survey for vegetable intake. One major issue is the respondents felt that the agriculture industry has discrepancy in marketing budgets between healthy a responsibility to produce food sustainably. For foods and unhealthy foods. On the bright side, the context, only 30 percent of respondents felt the National Fruit and Vegetable Alliance’s 2015 report industry had a responsibility to provide food at low card found that the restaurant sector was much cost. Though encouraging that an agreement was better than other food sectors at increasing the reached among nearly 200 countries at the historic availability of fruits and vegetables in recent years. 2015 Paris Climate Conference (COP21), many experts were discouraged that greater emphasis was It’s not just vegetables that have earned higher not placed on the role of global agriculture. status on menus, but a wider variety of whole grains and plant proteins. The United Nations declaring For these reasons and more, the 2015 Dietary 2016 the International Year of Pulses has helped Guidelines for Americans (DGAs), which were released lentils, chickpeas, and beans leap into both the in January 2016, proved a missed opportunity to consumer and operator consciousness like never include sustainability language in this country’s official before. (Granted, they have been gaining ground guidance about what to eat. It was also a missed for some time: According to Datassential, menuing opportunity to provide a clear recommendation of chickpeas has increased by 290 percent in the to reduce red meat consumption. Both had been past decade.) These fiber-rich plant proteins offer advised by the scientific advisory committee’s report numerous nutritional benefits, and also improve for the 2015 DGAs. soil fertility through their symbiotic relationship with nitrogen-fixing bacteria that live in their roots. 4 Given the complexities of change in order to benefit mislabeling, and other failures to ensure traceability; the triple bottom line of people, planet, and profit, exposés of human trafficking throughout the Thailand the Menus of Change Annual Report is designed fishing industry, which is linked to the farmed STATE OF to give foodservice and culinary professionals the shrimp industry in the U.S.; and threats to oceanic insights and the tools to make informed decisions ecosystems that are clearly tied to climate change.

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