Jessica Hope gave a guest lecture on “Ethical Considerations of Industrial Animal Agriculture” for Stanford’s course “Rethinking Meat”.

We are honored to have received a major gift from Open Philanthropy and a supporting grant from Food Systems Research Fund. These awards will support our work on: (1) the effects of plant-based analogs in displacing consumption of animal-based foods in real restaurants; (2) the effects of documentaries encouraging plant-based diets on measures of national meat consumption; (3) further experimental studies in the Stanford dining halls; and more.

Anaïs Voski won the Dr. Elemér and Éva Kiss Scholarship Award for 2023-2024. Congratulations!

Anna Thomas spoke for the Stanford Causal Science Center Conference, presenting preliminary results for her project “Toward quantifying the effects of documentary films advocating a plant-based diet on public awareness and behavior”.

Chef Lee Levig, Michelle Ihrig, and Maya Mathur presented methods and results from the SCOOP (Spoon Capacity Outcomes on Protein Serving Size and Satisfaction) study at the 2023 MCURC (Menus of Change University Research Collaborative) All-Members Annual Meeting.

Maya Mathur presented on choice architecture and results from the SCOOP (Spoon Capacity Outcomes on Protein Serving Size and Satisfaction) study at the North American Animal Law Conference & Canadian Animal Law Conference (University of Toronto).

Anna Thomas spoke virtually for the Fauna Connections Symposium, presenting preliminary results for her project “Effects of vegan media on public awareness and consumption of plant-based and animal-based foods”.

Dr. Mathur spoke virtually for the Formo Food Summit (Berlin, Germany) on the Humane and Sustainable Food lab and academic research on choice architecture.

PhD student Anaïs Voşki, lead author of the ongoing SCOOP study (Spoon Capacity Outcomes On Protein Serving Size & Satisfaction), attended the Stanford Food Institute’s Food Systems Research Symposium. She presented preliminary results of the SCOOP study and introduced the Stanford community to the Humane and Sustainable Food Lab.

In this forum post, we detail our approach, work to date, and upcoming research priorities.

Grants to study nudges (2023): The lab was awarded grants from Food Systems Research Fund to study the effect of nudges in university dining halls.

Dr. Mathur was awarded early-career awards from the Society for Epidemiologic Research and the Society for Research Synthesis Methods, the two largest international professional societies for epidemiologists and evidence synthesis methodologists respectively.

Fauna Connections panel (2022): Dr. Mathur spoke for a panel on influencing consumer behavior for animal advocacy, along with Dr. Chris Bryant, Dr. Sophie Cameron, Jah Ying Chun, and Dr. Benjamin Buttlar.

Dr. Mathur gave an invited talk for the 4th Annual Reducetarian Summit (San Francisco, CA) on principles for designing studies to evaluate dietary changes.

US Environmental Protection Agency (2021): Dr. Mathur spoke for the US Environmental Protection Agency, Region 6 (Dallas, TX), summarizing the state of the scientific evidence on interventions to reduce consumption of meat and animal products.

Animal Advocacy Conference (2021): Dr. Mathur gave a talk on results of the lab’s meta-analysis on educational interventions to reduce consumption of meat and animal products.