Including more plants on our plates provides so many benefits, with a long list of positives for healthier people and a healthier planet.
Plant-forward is a style of cooking and eating that emphasizes vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds. With plants as the star of the plate, animal products can appear in smaller portions, often as a flavoring or garnish. Plant-forward goes one step beyond the many vegetarian and vegan options we continue to add to our menus. It further elevates plants as the lead-ingredient, even when small amounts of meat, dairy, fish or poultry are included in a recipe.
The plant-forward trend has proliferated and it shows remarkable staying power. Research has shown that 60% of consumers want to reduce their meat intake and 62% want to eat more vegetables. It’s a major driver of today’s menus and our chefs are bringing a plant-forward approach to life across our locations.
To achieve our goal of increasing the plant-forward ingredients on the menu, we launched a major plant-forward menu innovation initiative to elevate the role of these healthy and more sustainable ingredients on our menus. Many of our chefs have enthusiastically participated in plant-forward culinary innovation workshops, and contributed to the development of hundreds of new plant-forward recipes.
Plant-forward is a ‘win’ for nutrition. By adding more plants to the center of our plates, our recipes now contain less of the saturated fat and sodium that many get too much of in their diets—while also bringing more of the naturally wholesome, nutritionally dense benefits of plant-based foods.
Plant-forward is a ‘win’ for flavor. By layering in fresh, healthy, flavorful plant-based ingredients, our chefs are taking plant-forward dining to a whole new level.
Plant-forward is also a ‘win’ for the environment since plant-forward meals are not just good for people, they’re also good for the planet. Putting plants at the center of the plate with a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, legumes, and whole grains while ensuring sustainably sourced and humanely raised animal proteins, minimizes our environmental impact. By introducing more plant-forward recipes, we’re also helping to prevent deforestation and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Learn more about how our sustainability plan comes to life.
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