For years, food-sustainability campaigns have followed the same playbook: tell people the facts, what to eat, then hope they listen. New research from the FoodChoices4LIFE EU-funded project suggests that playbook mostly fails, and one of its biggest failures is the label “plant-based” itself, which puts people off and feeds into a wider backlash against meat substitutes across Europe. That evidence is now shaping Cook4Climate, the project’s public-facing campaign, taking place this October and bringing together chefs and citizens from across Europe to show that tasty and sustainable eating can go hand in hand.
Why so many sustainability messages fail
Researchers from FoodChoices4LIFE reviewed 73 consumer-facing and 83 chef-facing interventions documented in the international scientific literature, then surveyed and ran focus groups with citizens in eight EU countries (Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Romania, Spain and Sweden), and with chefs, to see what actually moves people.
What they realised is that much sustainability messaging still relies on a simple instruction, “eat less meat”, “go plant-based”, delivered through a poster, a leaflet or a social media post. It’s also the least effective approach available. Only 58% of the consumer-facing actions reviewed were shown to trigger any positive change in food behaviour, and simple messages and recommendations performed worst of any category (53% success), well behind education (86%, though that finding rests on just seven tested actions). Among chefs, the same pattern held: 70% of actions succeeded overall, but simple messaging lagged at 69%, against 91% for recipe changes and 76% for nudges like menu reordering.
The plant-based backlash
Delivery format wasn’t the only thing that mattered: what a message actually said was also important, especially around plant-based eating. Plant-based framed options such as adding plant-rich dishes to the menu without any indication that they are plant-based (28.3%) or highlighting the taste of plant-rich dishes (37.3%) landed with far less enthusiasm than dishes framed as seasonal or local: 59% for more seasonal options and 59.8% for more local options.
The same pattern held when it came to actual choices. Consumers said they were far more likely to cut down on meat by adding more vegetables (37.7%) or legumes (32.2%) to their plate than by reaching for a commercial plant-based meat alternative (26.5%). The resistance wasn’t to plant-based eating itself: consumers were happy to eat more vegetables and legumes, both of which are plant-based too. The resistance was to processed meat analogues, which they said would win them over through improved taste and texture, not by being marketed as ‘greener’. That reluctance held even when it came to replacing meat outright: given the choice, 36.4% would rather swap beef or lamb for chicken, pork or fish than for a plant-based alternative.
“We’ve spent years telling people to eat plant-based, and a lot of that messaging simply hasn’t landed. People hear it as a lecture, not an invitation. Cook4Climate is built on what the research says actually works: small, tasty, feasible swaps, more veg, more legumes, more seasonal ingredients, tap water over bottled, for citizens, with chefs playing their part through practical, recipe-level changes,” says Betty Chang, Research Area Lead at EUFIC.
What Cook4Climate does differently
Instead of another simple instruction to eat less meat or go plant-based, Cook4Climate puts that evidence into action: a set of hands-on resources and activities that let citizens across the EU experience firsthand why sustainable eating matters, and take practical steps to make it happen this October.
- A free digital cookbook where citizens can cook from 27 traditional recipes, one contributed by a chef from each EU Member State, each built around seasonal ingredients, plant-forward cooking, food preservation, or ingredients that are usually discarded, proving that classic, much-loved dishes can also be climate-smart. The recipes are organised by season, with substitutions listed so they can be cooked year-round.
- A Europe-wide social media cooking challenge where citizens, chefs and influencers are invited to put a sustainable spin on their cooking and inspire others to do the same. Participants can either cook a dish from the FoodChoices4LIFE cookbook or reinvent a traditional dish of their own, then snap a photo or video and share it using #Cook4Climate.
- A series of sustainable cooking events where citizens can meet chefs and learn firsthand. More than 25 chefs are hosting over 50 events across Europe this month. Citizens can find one near them using the campaign’s interactive events map.
- A web-based AI-driven app where citizens can track their food consumption and waste. It gives personalised feedback on the environmental impact of their choices, making the effect of everyday habits more tangible and helping counter climate-related misinformation.
- A food waste quiz where citizens can identify the best ways for them to cut food waste, and get practical, personalised tips in return that help save money, protect the environment, and lower the risk of food poisoning.
- A social media toolkit with a set of ready-to-use visuals for anyone who champions healthy and sustainable eating and wants to help spread the word about the campaign across their own channels.
Everything is at www.cook4climate.eu.
Cook4Climate is also rallying chefs and food influencers from across Europe. Throughout October, a network of ambassadors will bring sustainable cooking to new audiences, from restaurant menus to social media feeds.
“Chefs shape millions of meals every day, and every menu is an opportunity to introduce people to new ingredients, flavours and dishes. That’s why chefs have such an important role in Cook4Climate. We can show that climate-smart food can be delicious, exciting and practical, while using our influence beyond the plate to inspire more sustainable food choices. By sharing what works with our teams, guests and fellow chefs, we can help bring even more people along,” says Shonah Chalmers, Sustainability Chair at Worldchefs.
How to get involved
If you cook at home: join the cooking challenge and share your dish using #Cook4Climate, join a chef-led cooking event near you on the campaign’s interactive map, and download the free recipe cookbook, app and quiz to start making small, feasible food choices that are good for you and the planet.
If you’re a chef, run a restaurant: visit the “For Chefs” section of cook4climate.eu to watch webinars on how chefs can drive sustainable food system change, access resources to spread the word, and join the cooking challenge.
If you’re a journalist: contact us to arrange interviews with the FoodChoices4LIFE research team, campaign spokespeople or participating chefs, and to find out more about the research behind the campaign. You can also support your reporting on healthy and sustainable diets through this press toolkit.
About Cook4Climate
Cook4Climate is the public-facing annual campaign of the FoodChoices4LIFE project, showing that tasty, healthy and sustainable eating can go hand in hand. Throughout October 2026 and 2027, it runs a cooking challenge involving influencers and chefs, and connects EU citizens with 25+ chefs hosting 50+ cooking events. The website serves as the heart of the campaign, where citizens, partners and chefs can find the resources they need to take part and learn how to make lasting changes in the kitchen. More at www.cook4climate.eu.
About FoodChoices4LIFE
FoodChoices4LIFE is a three-year project (1 October 2025 – 30 September 2028) co-funded by the EU LIFE programme (call LIFE-2024-SAP-CLIMA-GOV). It aims to help people across Europe eat healthier, live more sustainably and waste less, combining Europe-wide public campaigns with training for chefs, journalists and local administrators, and an AI-powered app to guide climate-smart meal choices. Over its lifetime, the project targets more than 100 in-person events, over 500,000 people reached through social campaigns, 500+ chefs engaged, and a 25–30% reduction in household dietary CO₂ emissions. It builds on two earlier EU LIFE projects, Su-Eatable Life and Climate Smart Chefs. The consortium is coordinated by EUFIC, with the University of Tuscia, Worldchefs and pOsti as partners.
Media contact
- Lorena Vargas
- Media Manager at the European Food Information Council (EUFIC)
- +32 485 31 95 67
- lorena.vargas@eufic.org