Discussion

This study explored the food priorities and attitudes of students at a US culinary school, assessing how they view nutrition and sustainability as part of their future role as stakeholders in the food system. To our knowledge, this is the first study to explore attitudes about both nutrition and sustainability among culinary students. Findings indicate that these future culinary professionals generally believe nutrition and sustainability are important and support these issues as part of chefs’ roles and responsibilities. However, there was variability in how and to what extent these students believe they should apply nutrition and sustainability in their careers. Similar to research in other populations^{(Reference Curtis and Cowee8,Reference Aggarwal, Rehm and Monsivais36)} , taste was the primary driver of personal food decisions amongst this group of culinary students. Other important factors were price, healthfulness and convenience, however the order of these priorities differed by race/ethnicity and between the youngest and oldest age groups.

While there was agreement that it’s important for chefs to be knowledgeable about nutrition, only slightly more than half of students agreed that healthfulness of food would be a primary consideration in their career. These results are similar to findings from Gillis et al. (2020)^{(Reference Gillis, Whibbs and Li21)} where 99 % of students at a Canadian chef school agreed that chefs need to know how to prepare nutritious food while 60 % ranked nutrition as ‘very important’ for their future work. Unlike Gillis et al., we did not find gender differences in how culinary students value nutrition as part of a chef’s education or work, even though female students in our study were more likely to agree that dietary quality is a big problem in the USA. Differences in culinary student food priorities had not previously been explored across race/ethnicity. In this sample of culinary students, taste, price and convenience were consistently ranked the highest priorities when it comes to personal food choices, a trend that mirrors the preferences of the general population^{(Reference Glanz, Basil and Maibach33)}. Healthfulness was a lower priority among non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic students when making personal food decisions, with non-Hispanic Black students ranking price above all other factors and both non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic students ranking convenience ahead of healthfulness. It’s unclear how the different food priorities among these groups might translate into the students’ professional choices as chefs, but future studies should explore the implications of these differences and their potential to contribute to nutrition and health disparities. This reinforces the need to leverage the unique knowledge and growing influence of chefs to source, prepare and promote healthy and sustainable foods that are also tasty, affordable and convenient in order to enhance their appeal across all demographic groups. A small but growing number of chefs and restaurants have embraced this approach, such as a former head chef of the top rated restaurant in the world who now produces school meals in London and the Bronx that cost less than $1·25 each⁽³⁷⁾, a San Francisco Bay Area startup that provides nourishing and culturally relevant reimbursable meals to school districts across the USA⁽³⁸⁾, or a fast-casual restaurant chain in Los Angeles that serves healthy and convenient meals at reduced prices in low-income neighborhoods^{(Reference Strom39)}.

This is the first study we are aware of that explores attitudes towards food systems sustainability among culinary students. Results revealed that many culinary students believe it is important for chefs to understand the environmental impact of their ingredients and to help address sustainability through their work. Despite participants ranking all environmental factors below healthfulness when making food decisions, more students said they hope to promote sustainable food systems and to make the environmental impact of their food a primary consideration when they become chefs than to encourage healthy eating habits or to consider healthfulness of food prominently in their career. There were differences in attitudes towards environmental concerns across race/ethnicity, with non-Hispanic Black participants being significantly less likely to perceive climate change as part of a chef’s responsibilities to address through their work. Attitudes towards climate change are often more closely associated with political affiliation than race/ethnicity, but previous research has suggested that minorities may be less likely to believe there is scientific consensus on climate change or identify as environmentalists^{(Reference Schuldt and Pearson40)}. While this association is not well understood, it is notable in this context as culinary students who do not see it as their responsibility to address climate change may be less likely to adopt environmental friendly behaviours when they become chefs. Students in their fourth academic year were more likely to believe that chefs should learn about sustainability and take action to address climate change in their work. This may reflect that students in bachelor degree programs at the CIA have more opportunities to incorporate coursework on sustainable food systems compared to those completing associate’s degrees, or perhaps that students who are interested in sustainability are pursuing more advanced culinary degrees.

Our results suggest that the majority of culinary students surveyed could be willing allies in public health efforts to improve diets and reduce food systems contributions to climate change. This is an encouraging insight and demonstrates the potential to engage chefs at all levels in promoting healthy and sustainable diets. There are several current ‘celebrity chefs’ who have taken on prominent roles in efforts to improve dietary quality and nutrition^(41–43). Others have focussed on sustainability and climate change by supporting local food systems⁽⁴⁴⁾ and eliminating meat to reduce the climate impact of their menus^{(Reference Anderson and Gross45)}. Aside from ‘celebrity chefs’ and the fine-dining sector, sustainable and healthy menu options are both growing trends in the restaurant industry as a whole, including full service, fast casual and fast food restaurants^{(46–Reference Pittman48)}. In other areas of the food service sector, schools, hospitals and workplace cafeterias are implementing sustainable practices and responding to demand from customers for healthy options^(11,49–52) . Sustainable procurement policies are growing in prominence in food service, and chefs who value sustainability are well positioned to make progress in these areas^{(Reference Day Farnsworth, Delwiche, McKinney, Thottathil and Goger53)}. Additionally, a number of strategic initiatives and collaboratives have emerged from culinary schools, such as the CIA, to help accelerate progress towards healthier and more sustainable business practices across the food industry⁽⁵⁴⁾. With the shift towards more home cooking in response to restaurant closures in the COVID-19 pandemic^{(Reference Murphy, Benson and McCloat55)}, chefs have extended their influence beyond the restaurant into people’s homes through live virtual cooking demos, social media and meal kits. These growing platforms represent additional opportunities for chefs to educate the public and promote healthier and more sustainable eating behaviours.

The results from this study indicate that engagement with culinary students to advance public health goals may prove fruitful. An important area for further research is how to translate strong support for nutrition and environmental sustainability among culinary students into adoption of practices that advance healthy diets and sustainable food systems in their careers as chefs. Given the urgency of addressing diet-related health and environmental concerns, bold action is needed to close the gap between attitudes and action as a new generation of culinary professionals enters the workforce and become leaders in the food industry. Culinary schools can help address this gap by more seamlessly integrating nutrition and food systems training into their degree requirements and offering more courses, job shadowing and internship opportunities focussed on promoting healthy and sustainable foods. The food service industry is changing rapidly in response to growing consumer demand for plant-forward, health-centred and sustainably sourced foods, and culinary schools must adapt their programming accordingly. This shift will require more than one-off electives or a small number of required credits in nutrition and sustainability topics. The opportunity areas suggested by participants in this study form a preliminary framework for developing enhanced curricular and co-curricular strategies that teach and motivate culinary students to improve nutrition and sustainability when they become chefs, through their menu and purchasing decisions, their role as educators and influencers in the food system and their ability to make healthy and sustainable options more appealing and accessible to the public. These strategies must emphasise the substantial overlap between healthier and more sustainable diets, prioritising culinary and business practices that optimise benefits to human and environmental health. Culinary schools should seize the opportunity to empower their students with the necessary knowledge and skills to promote healthier and more environmentally conscious food choices in their careers as chefs.