25-10 - Flipbook - Page 57
October 2025
Definition
The Culinary Institute of America and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health defines
plant-forward as a style of cooking and eating that emphasizes and celebrates, but is not
limited to plant-based foods. The diet also includes principles to support health and
sustainability. Source: Menus of Change
This way of eating includes
It9s plant-centric and inclusive. It9s thinking about how you can build a meal or menu
around plants versus centering meat.
Plant-forward is about the way you cook and less about following a specific, regimented
diet and adopting a label such as vegan, vegetarian, lacto-ovo vegetarian, or
pescatarian.
Plant-Forward versus Plant-Based
Vegan means 100% plant-based. Meals and snacks don9t include any animal-derived
foods. The diet excludes fish, poultry, meat, eggs, dairy, honey and any foods made with
animal byproducts.
Plant-based can mean 100% vegan or it can mean made with plants. So, there is no official
definition and you9ll need to take care to check for ingredients or that the food is 100%
plant based or vegan.
Plant-forward doesn9t have either restriction or distinction. Plant forward puts produce on a
pedestal. It means prioritizing fruits and vegetables, legumes, grains, nuts, seeds for better
health and sustainability.
It may help to think of plant-forward eating as a semi-vegetarian diet. It9s very similar to the
