Fourteenth International Conference on Food Studies

Abstract

In 2022, University of Victoria, in British Columbia committed to a Climate and Sustainability Action Plan, set to be achieved by 2030, inspiring others to lead the way globally in environmental, social and institutional sustainability. This research explores the impact of this decision and the substitution of beef burgers with 50 percent pea protein burgers on campus at the University of Victoria in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. University of Victoria has set a goal to be a world leader in Climate Action and to achieve Net Zero by 2030 in an initiative called Race to Zero 2030. A review of the past annual sales of burgers on campus over the past 12 months revealed that between September 2022 to March 2023, the month of September was noted as recording the highest monthly sales mean of beef burgers with a mean daily sale of 133.34 (SE 12.75). This research asks the question: Can the promotion of sustainable food choices significantly alter conventional meat consumption in Canadian universities’ Student Union Buildings? The non-directional null hypothesis posits that the September 2023 daily mean consumption will not differ significantly from the reported September 2022 daily mean consumption of 133.34 (SE 12.75). The alternative hypothesis posits that the September 2023 daily mean consumption will be significantly different from the reported September 2022 daily mean consumption of 133.34 (SE 12.75).