.png)
As the climate crisis looms, study after study captures the growing sense of hopelessness and anxiety among young people. A group of food system advocates, including 14 New Roots Institute fellows, is channeling that anxiety into action on college campuses.
A coalition of student leaders recently launched UPGRADE Dining, a nationwide campaign calling on more than 30 universities to expand sustainable and inclusive dining options. Their central goal: swap 50 percent of animal products with plant-based foods by 2030 in an effort to mitigate climate change, lessen animal suffering, reduce global hunger through land and resource conservation, and promote better public health outcomes.
“Expanding plant-based options can benefit everyone by bringing more culturally relevant, flavorful and nutritionally abundant foods,” wrote the campaign’s leaders.
Inspired by the momentum of the Plant-Based Universities movement, a 2021 initiative that won strong support for 15 European universities to adopt fully plant-based menus, the UPGRADE team got to work last summer. Their advocacy has included appealing to campus dining staff, partnering with food companies like Chunk and Fable to host plant-based taste tests, and presenting data that illustrates the rising demand for climate-conscious foods.
Jessica Cohen, a New Roots Institute fellow and director of the campaign, explained UPGRADE’s data-driven approach to influencing university policy.
“We’re including quantitative data of how many plant-based options are served, what percent of purchasing is of animal products vs. plant-based products, and how many sustainability pledges each school has signed onto,” Cohen said. “But we’re also incorporating student feedback. We ran surveys at every campus because sometimes schools claim to offer certain menu items, but when you actually visit, those options are not available.”
To make this information accessible, Harper Dunn—a New Roots Institute former fellow and UPGRADE leader at UCLA—has organized the findings into a national scoreboard system. The rankings aim to encourage schools to improve their scores and to recognize those leading the way forward on sustainable dining.
In an Instagram reel posted shortly after the public launch of the campaign, the team emphasized the widespread impact of campus food choices. “If your school served 20,000 students, that’s roughly five million meals every single year. That [uses] 100 milligrams of Co2, 100 million gallons of water, and 1 million animals,” the students explained.
On collaborating with other changemakers, Cohen said, “The thing that has felt most fulfilling is connecting with so many other students. Having all these students at universities across the country, many of whom are involved with New Roots Institute and many who are not, all working together toward the same goal makes it so much more impactful. It’s really helpful to learn from each others’ successes and failures, so you don’t have to repeat each others’ mistakes.”
New Roots Institute fellows and alumni who are currently UPGRADE team members include: Julia Krauz, Jessica Cohen, Harper Dunn, Morgan Greenlaw, Marielle Williamson, Sam Rappin, Lilly Smith, Maya Miller, Calvin Lawn, Sophie Cazares, Rebecca Zewdie, Trinity Olander, Jaden Yang, and Hannah Hughes.
As part of our leadership development programs, New Roots Institute has trained fellows to become leaders in the movement to end factory farming. With an extensive curriculum, hands-on coaching, and a supportive peer network, we empower students to turn knowledge into real-world impact. New Roots staff have mentored fellows as they have reached key stakeholders and conducted taste tests at their universities.
Becca Rogers, Manager of Leadership Development at New Roots Institute, says that UPGRADE is a prime example of the organization’s "roots model," a supportive network of leaders who are expanding our reach and advancing our shared mission to end factory farming.
“It has been so exciting to see so many of our fellows and alumni get involved with UPGRADE organically, putting the leadership and movement-building skills they’ve honed into action. Watching them collaborate across nearly 30 U.S. campuses to push for ambitious, but achievable, dining reform is exactly the kind of empowered, student-led change we aim to support at New Roots Institute. Through UPGRADE, students are recognizing the collective power they hold to shift institutional priorities.”
As fellows develop their leadership skills, they share this knowledge and training with others, motivating their peers to advocate for a just food system in their communities. It’s a cycle of growth that will inspire lasting change for decades to come.
“The decisions we make today will profoundly shape the future of our planet,” wrote the campaign's leaders in an open letter to faculty across the U.S. “Students across the country deserve to graduate into a world where their institutions have actively worked to create a livable and sustainable future.”
