I recently paid a visit to the UCD campus to meet with some members of the ‘PLAN’EAT’ UCD Living Lab team.

The team is made up of five individuals: Professor Eileen Gibney (Principal Investigator), Dr Aifric O’Sullivan (Principal Investigator), Dr Lauren Devine, Michael O’Neill, and Patrick Elliott. Despite being a small team they have made an impressive and lasting impact on the UCD campus with each member bringing a wealth of knowledge accumulated via their impressive individual resumes and academic experience.

The goal at the centre of the ‘PLAN’EAT’ Living Lab is simple yet vital whereby they concentrate on promoting sustainability whilst achieving changes in dietary behaviours steering said behaviours in a more sustainable and healthier direction.

Much more than a research project, ‘PLAN’EAT’ is committed to the student body at the heart of their study. The focus group is built around students studying on the UCD, Belfield campus. They consider many factors that impact the dietary behaviours of this student body, including: lifestyle, living arrangements (on/off campus) and price in order to develop a firm and well-rounded understanding of the students within this project placing their feedback at the core of their assessment.

When students attend college, it is often the first real taste of freedom and independence that they get. Whilst this can be fun and exhilarating it also comes with a lot of responsibility and ultimately juggling of life. Therefore, this is a crucial age to intervene in areas such as dietary behaviours because it is a key transitional age.

When at home with your parents it often seems as if there is a constant supply of food on hand and meals at the ready. However, living away from home and being responsible for keeping the fridge stocked and cupboards full is daunting enough never mind trying to prepare all your own meals on top of this. Therefore, it is unsurprising that many students, in this study age bracket, opt for easy options like ready meals, microwave dinners and of course, the takeaway.

The team at ‘PLAN’EAT’ elaborated on this point emphasising the need to intervene through means of education at this pivotal time in order to encourage students to live more sustainably whilst making better dietary decisions, which are not as scary as one may initially think.

It is unrealistic to think you can change your entire dietary behaviour overnight but there are small steps you can take to ensure you are heading in the right direction for both your own body and the planet alike.

The team at ‘PLAN’EAT’ provided a helpful list for you to accommodate in the fruition of your sustainable and healthy diet and ultimately lifestyle.

1. Try a one swap method – Impactful swaps make a huge difference, for example, replace your meat dinner (or reduce the proportion of meat in the meal) with a plant-based alternative (e.g., beans, lentils, tofu) at least one or two evenings a week.

2. Become a conscious eater – Think more about what you are eating, why you are eating it and where it comes from.

3. Educate yourself – Develop your knowledge on dietary behaviours and food-based sustainability via guidelines and resources i.e. Irish Healthy Eating Guidelines or the British Dietetics Association (One Blue Dot).

4. Plan ahead – Do meal prep, make meal plans and prepare in advance so that you do not find yourself frequently grabbing an unhealthy alternative simply for ‘handiness’.

With these tips in mind, I posed the question to the team of how easy it really is for students on the UCD campus to achieve these goals when you consider the stores and eating facilities on the campus today.

To which they replied that whilst sometimes several barriers may exist and it may seem difficult to find a healthy lunch or snack on campus, it is not impossible. They explained that the Pi restaurant, for example, now has a green living section to their menu, there are plant-based meals and options in the on-campus shops, and a huge diversity of food choices on campus to cater for different needs. However, of course, despite progress being made there is still work to be done and the team are eager to roll up their sleeves and get stuck in. In fact, they aim to work with individual catering companies and key stakeholders in coalition with UCD in the hope of helping students to choose more sustainable and healthy options on campus.

When it comes to evoking change, they want to hear from the students directly and emphasised repeatedly to me that the student is at the heart of this study. They want students with diverse profiles, interests, backgrounds and intentions to fuel this research project. When the students vocalise their concerns, questions and opinions, the team at ‘PLAN’EAT’ are better equipped to aid each individual in achieving the goals of the project, ultimately in achieving healthier and more sustainable dietary habits/behaviours.

With this in mind, the team at ‘PLAN’EAT’ have been working tirelessly to promote their message around campus. Their social media, highlighted at the bottom of the article, is enough to entice anyone to pop-in with the team and get involved. You can also spot them around campus eager to get chatting to the students or take notice of one of their posters dotted across Belfield to get more information.

To the team this is a labour of love.

From their personal life to their academic endeavours and now through their professional quests they have kept sustainability, health and science with them each step of the way. Now, with the current state of our climate, it seems more important to them than ever to voice their message on such a scale as the ‘PLAN’EAT’ project and they are not alone.

They are part of a much larger, international body (https://planeat-project.eu/) working across Europe and across age brackets to make this a global success.

There are a multitude of mechanisms at play when we consider societies approach and outlook to diet and sustainability varying from person to person whilst covering bases such as lifestyle, financial comfort, personal outlook, culture and mindset.

Therefore, this is an interesting, informative and beneficial study with heaps of potential. So, if you are in your first or second year of undergraduate study in UCD and are aged between 18 and 30 then why not consider signing up to be a part of this great initiative.

With this introduction in mind, I am thrilled to introduce ‘PLAN’EAT’ team member and PhD candidate Patrick Elliott who will be delving into the science and intricate details of his and the team’s work in his upcoming article.

Be sure to keep your eyes peeled!