Fall 2025 is the fifth semester of USC’s Eco-Monday initiative, in which the University’s dining halls do not serve red meat on Mondays. Instead, the dining halls have a variety of other protein options, including beans, seafood and poultry. 

“This approach helps us to reduce the environmental impact of red meat, which is one of the highest contributors of greenhouse gas emissions in the food supply,” said Lindsey Pine, the registered dietician for USC Hospitality. “But at the same time, we can still give students a choice, because we know that’s very important to them.”

While this does affect the options for students, some students said they don’t see it as an inconvenience. Sam Wolf, a freshman majoring in business administration, is one of them.

“I really understand [the initiative] from an environmental point, especially because of the carbon footprint from meat, and some of these farms are really immoral,” Wolf said. “’I’m also a big meat eater, but I’m okay with [the initiative] because they have so many options.” 

Mia Moore-Walker, a sophomore majoring in biological sciences (ecology, evolution and environment) as well as dramatic arts and the advocacy liaison for USC’s Environmental Student Assembly, said she thinks USC has had a lot of growth in terms of sustainability, specifically because of former President Carol Folt. 

Folt ran various initiatives, including implementing zero-waste policies at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum during football games. 

“I know [Folt] was a very, very big champion of sustainability,” Moore-Walker said. “We have actually made a lot of great jumps into sustainability and environmentalism, which does include reducing carbon emissions overall on campus. So obviously, there’s still work that can be done in future, but I would say we’re on a really great track.” 

The opinion that USC has good sustainability measures is not uncommon. According to the University’s 2025 Sustainability Survey, 73% of respondents “agreed” or “strongly agreed” that “USC has a culture that cultivates sustainability.” 

Matthew Rodriguez, a senior majoring in human biology, also said Eco-Mondays are a positive improvement on campus. However, as the community service chair of USC’s chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers, Rodriguez said he wants to know more about how the alternative protein options are sourced. 

“I think it’s great that they’re starting out with [Eco]-Mondays, but something [ASCE] talked about is that some of the alternatives that could be provided for protein may be just as resource intensive, like using water and agricultural land space in an efficient way similar to the production of livestock,” Rodriguez said. 

Specifically, while meat does have the worst impact on the environment, use of artificial fertilizers for plant growth can also result in high greenhouse gas emissions. 

USC is not the only university taking part in initiatives like these. The Meatless Monday Campaign is a global movement to help people eat more healthy, plant-based foods, according to its website; institutions like the University of Iowa and Florida State University are also participating. 

Pine said the University first explored the idea of Meatless Monday in 2022. Initially, one dining hall per week went meatless; however, the result was lopsided foot traffic favoring the dining halls that were serving meat. In Fall 2023, USC Hospitality expanded the program to include all dining halls. 

Moore-Walker said she was excited to see USC emphasize sustainability in the dining halls and looked forward to USC making more improvements in the future.

“I know there are a lot of great projects happening right now related to sustainable dining, and I just like to continue seeing that progressing, continue seeing those conversations happening and initiatives being made,” Moore-Walker said. 

According to USC Hospitality’s website, it favors “suppliers that support animal welfare, nutritional integrity, and reduced transportation impact.” However, they do not list specific suppliers. 

Pine said she hopes to improve the program by motivating students to choose non-meat options on their own terms. While the current program encourages this, poultry and seafood are still served on Eco-Mondays. 

“I really want to do more to encourage students to choose the meatless options on those days instead of going for the animal proteins,” Pine said. “I think we can do that [through] more education, partnering with student groups and just getting the word out there about all the benefits of these foods.”