Menu Dilemmas: An Integrated Assessment of the Nutritional Quality, Environmental Impact, and Cost of Vegan, Vegetarian, and Meat-Based Versions of Meals

<b>Background/Objectives</b>: Adopting sustainable dietary patterns is essential for addressing environmental sustainability and improving public health outcomes. However, food service providers and consumers often face challenges in making informed choices due to a lack of information on the environmental, nutritional, and cost implications of different meal options. The aim of this paper was to provide an integrated assessment of the nutritional quality, environmental impact and cost of vegan, vegetarian, and meat-based versions of four popular meals (lasagne, chilli, teriyaki, and curry) offered in the lunch service of a university food service establishment in London, UK. <b>Methods</b>: In this study, real recipes from the food service provider were analysed. The nutritional quality of meals was evaluated using the Nutrient Rich Food Index (NRF 9.3 and 17.3), the environmental impact was assessed using life cycle assessment (LCA), and the cost was calculated using recipe costing. Results were normalised using the min-max method, and recipes were ranked relative to each other based on their final nutritional quality, environmental impact and cost scores using a normalised integrated scoring method to identify which recipe version of meals was the most optimal when considering environmental sustainability, nutrition, and cost simultaneously. <b>Results</b>: The integrated assessment revealed that vegan recipe versions of meals made with whole foods consistently outperformed their meat-based counterparts across all three criteria-environmental impact, nutritional quality, and cost-ranking highest in environmental sustainability and nutrition while also being more cost-effective, regardless of cuisine or dish type. <b>Conclusions</b>: These findings suggest that shifting towards plant-based recipes made with whole-foods (e.g., vegetables, legumes, etc.) can improve micronutrient intake, reduce environmental impact, and lower costs, thus supporting sustainable dietary transitions and public health.