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Meet the Core Team
Jessica Cohen
Cornell '25
Navin Durbhakula
Harvard '25
Harper Dunn
UCLA '26
Julia Krausz
Brown '26
Kevin Korevaar
UC Berkeley '25
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Chad Brouze
University of Michigan '26
Calla Doh
Rice '26
Our Beginnings
UPGRADE Dining began in May 2024, when a group of students from across gathered at the Food4Thought Festival and discussed their shared interests in expanding plant-based dining. After almost of a year of behind the scenes work, UPGRADE Dining publicly launched on April 12, 2025.
With over 25 universities involved, UPGRADE strives to increase plant-based dining at universities. The campaign is fully student-led.
Why UPGRADE?
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Increasing affordability: By directly replacing animal-based products with plants, universities can save hundreds of thousands of dollars annually on food costs, increasing affordability for students
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Expanding inclusivity: 14 percent of college students nationwide identify as vegan or vegetarian. Limited plant-based options restrict access to nutritious and diverse food sources for people with dietary restrictions, allergies, or religious differences. Expanding plant-based options can benefit everyone by bringing more culturally relevant, flavorful and nutritionally abundant foods.
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Reducing food safety risks: By reducing animal-based procurement, universities will face less food safety concerns and students are less likely to run the risk of catching food-borne illnesses. With avian flu on the rise and increasing rates of food-borne illnesses (salmonella, e coli), this ensures a safer experience for future students while also holding universities accountable to source their animal-based products more responsibly.
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Curbing climate change: By cutting leading sources of greenhouse gas emissions like red meat and dairy, universities can reduce their total emissions by nearly 50 percent making a significant dent in climate change.
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Reducing animal suffering: Universities serve anywhere from hundreds of thousands to tens of millions of meals annually. By cutting down animal purchasing by 50 percent (on a national scale), hundreds of millions of animal deaths can be averted.
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Reducing global hunger: Global hunger is on the rise. With limited land and resources, animal-based food production must urgently be reduced. The widespread demand for meat products in the US results in more land and resources in the Global South being shifted to exporting meat to the US, directly trading off with resources to feed vulnerable populations. By replacing animal-based foods with plant-based foods, universities could be part of the solution, feeding an additional 350 million people.
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Improving public health: In response to growing disease risks, the use of antibiotics in animal agriculture has increased, accounting for 80 percent of antibiotic use. Antibiotic resistance is now the leading cause of death worldwide, making this an imminent public health emergency. With less animal-based procurement, universities can reduce the excess demand for animals, minimize cramped conditions and inhumane treatments for animals, reduce disease risks, and curb antibiotic usage and resistance.
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