One group promoting discussion surrounding vegetarianism’s health benefits is the Plant Futures Initiative, a global movement with 30+ schools across the United States and five countries that collaborates with students to establish plant-centric communities on college campuses. The initiative equips them with the knowledge needed to become ethical leaders and advocates for plants while exposing and educating students to different types of lifestyles and available plant-based food options.

Visit TikTok, where the platform is fostering a devoted community of vegetarian enthusiasts. The hashtags #vegetarian, #vegetarianrecipe, and #vegetarianoptions have collectively accumulated over 9 billion views, showcasing videos that share recipes, nutritional insights, and seasonal tips. Among them, @vegetarianreacts, a witty Veggie TikToker with 15K followers, takes his audience on a journey where he educates and humorously exposes those who claim to be cooking vegetarian meals but then, with just a dash of unidentified stock or questionable seasoning, find themselves straying from the vegetarian path.

Around the country, hospitals have signed an international pledge to reduce food-related greenhouse gas emissions by 25% by 2030. A key factor will be serving less meat, starting with the cafeteria and then expanding to patients, as the latest hospital data shows beef and the occasional order of lamb represent 56% of one hospital’s food-related greenhouse gas emissions. In fact, Health Care Without Harm, an organization dedicated to assisting the healthcare industry, argues that addressing this aspect is a crucial step toward emission reduction while also aiming to expand the range of beans, grains, and vegetables commonly eaten to preserve biodiversity.