Rethinking Meat 2.0
Introduction
In Spring 2021, student leaders from The Stanford Alt Protein Project organized and ran a 1-unit course, Rethinking Meat: An Introduction to Alternative Proteins (EARTHSYS 109, EARTHSYS 209, ESS 103, ESS 203, ETHICSOC 107) via Zoom with Professor David Lobell. A total of 90 students enrolled (both undergraduate and graduate) and an additional 30 students audited the class. Over the ten week quarter, the class invited 12 speakers from research, industry, and academia to talk about various aspects of alternative proteins from the science of plant-based, fermented, and cultivated meat to the impacts of a plant-based diet on health and the environment. Students really enjoyed the class, asked meaningful questions every week, and demonstrated significant learning. We would like to revamp this class for Spring 2021-22 to be an in-person class, to bring in speakers from the Bay Area, to engage students from across Stanford, and to provide a rich, interactive experience with cooking demos and alternative protein food samples.
Rethinking Meat in the News
Rethinking Meat: Helping students find their place in the alternative protein space
Significance
There are currently no other courses taught at Stanford that focus specifically on the field of alternative proteins and plant-based diets. We hope that Rethinking Meat in Spring 2022 will provide an introduction to the concepts behind alternative protein research and innovation to diverse Stanford students, while also providing opportunities for deeper engagement for students who are already familiar with certain topics. Many students who enrolled in the first Rethinking Meat class in Spring 2021 reflected that the course had inspired them to change their dietary habits and perspectives, and several students even shared that they felt inspired to change their career trajectory to focus on the issues discussed in the course. We anticipate a similar — if not greater — impact from the next rendition of the Rethinking Meat course, and we plan to survey students in a more structured and intentional manner to assess the direct student impact of the course. Further, we believe that we can build off the success of last year’s Rethinking Meat course to demonstrate a profound student interest in alternative proteins and plant-based diets as well as related human and environmental impacts, with the ultimate goal of motivating Stanford to offer greater future opportunities in these areas.
Audience
While we cannot be certain in our prediction for course enrollment, we believe that there is significant student interest in a course like this, especially as we plan to hold it in-person and with weekly professional speakers and alternative protein tastings. Rethinking Meat in Spring 2021 had an enrollment of 90 students from across Stanford’s schools and programs. We anticipate that some of these students would be interested in taking the class again in Spring 2022 given that we select several new speakers, promote opportunities for deeper engagement, and provide food samples. As we are planning the course with greater time in advance than we did last year, we hope to improve our advertising and outreach efforts to attract many new students as well.
Engagement
While planning for Rethinking Meat 2021, we found that email promotions, connections through the Stanford Alt Protein community, and surveys were the best ways to attract students to enroll in the course. In particular, we sent out surveys to students to better understand which topics they were interested in learning about, so we could find the most relevant and interesting guest speakers. We plan to use similar strategies to advertise and plan the course for the upcoming year. Additionally, we would like to reach out to Earth Systems, Biology, Human Biology, and other departments to consider advertising and/or listing the course as an elective for their programs.
