A report entitled Climate-Conscious & Cost-Effective: The Case for Plant-Based University Catering by Bryant Research presents a financial justification to incorporate plant-based servings in university meals.  The report purports to show that plant-based alternatives to meat-containing meals are one-third cheaper and would save on catering expenditure.  The report calculated that a medium-sized university with 10,000 students would save approximately $650,000 annually by serving only plant-based meals. This is a relatively inconsequential amount ($1.25 per student per week) relative to the cost of food preparation including labor, ingredients, utilities and consumables and compared to the fees imposed by universities for tuition and residence.

The report also hyped the environmental benefits relating to plant-based servings, including a claimed reduction in the emission of carbon-dioxide equivalent greenhouse gases, land use and water in comparison to menu items based on animal-derived protein.

The report however fails to recognize the desires of students and their ability to choose menus. The report effectively represents a roadmap towards eliminating red meat and poultry from university catering by 2023. Advocates of a vegan lifestyle have identified school and university catering as an area to advance plant-based diets with the objective of engendering life-long patterns of consumption that disfavor meat and poultry in diets.