Desired dishes in the cafeteria: summer treats for everyone!

Desired dishes in the cafeteria: summer treats for everyone!

Today, July 11th, 2025, the “Make a Wish” campaign ends in the cafeteria of the FernUniversität Hagen with the start of the summer holidays in North Rhine-Westphalia. This initiative received a high level of response from employees and guests of the cafeteria. The popular desired dishes that were available during the promotional period will continue to be offered throughout the summer. The most popular dishes include pizza, oysters, more fish, strawberry cake, organic offerings, currywurst and schnitzel.

In order to meet guests' wishes, fish dishes are now regularly integrated into the cafeteria's seven-week menu, no longer just on Fridays. The currywurst has already been on offer as a desired dish for a week, while around 120 currywursts and up to 150 Jägerschnitzel are prepared every day. New delicacies, such as the “Bella Italia” tarte flambée and strawberry cake, also find their place in the FernUni Café. However, some requests, such as oysters or purely organic dishes, cannot be fulfilled for reasons of cost and effort.

Sustainability initiatives in mass catering

As part of the discussion about sustainable nutrition in canteens, the Students For Future Hamburg initiative pointed out best practice examples for climate-friendly canteens in Germany. A notable example is the Free University of Berlin, whose cafeteria has been completely vegetarian since 2010. The first purely vegan cafeteria was even opened in 2019. The students were more committed to the offer than initially expected. Daniela Kummle from the Berlin Student Union explains that the new nutritional concept is based on the wishes of students who want more climate-friendly options.

Another important project is the pilot project of the cafeteria in the Hofgarten in Bonn, which has been labeling dishes with CO2 labels since May. This marking is related to the main components of the dishes and is divided into three levels: green for up to 0.4 kg CO2, yellow for 0.4 to 0.8 kg and red for 0.8 to 1.9 kg. The Leuphana University of Lüneburg is proud of its status as a climate-neutral institution since 2014, as are the universities of Erlangen-Nuremberg and Göttingen, whose canteens are completely vegan.

Influence of the food environment on eating decisions

The design of the food environment plays a critical role in how people make decisions about their food. Factors such as food composition, availability and presentation can significantly influence the consumption of healthy and sustainable options. This not only affects canteens, but also schools, companies and hospitals. Here, communal catering has the potential to make healthy, climate-friendly dishes accessible and attractive.

The principle of “nudging” is becoming increasingly important in this context in order to steer eating decisions in a positive direction without forcing them. By placing healthy and sustainable dishes prominently or color-coding them, they can become the focus of choice. Involving everyone involved in the catering process is crucial to creating acceptance and promoting the cafeteria as a place where positive eating habits can be encouraged.