BACKGROUND AND AIMS Despite the environmental and human health benefits of consuming minimally processed plant-based foods, research on best education and promotion practices for plant-based diet (PBD) is lacking among urban community college students. Education on the benefits of a PBD and gardening may create more knowledgeable and environmentally conscious consumers. Potential benefits may result in positive health outcomes and assist a dietary shift towards a PBD. We explored awareness and perception of PBDs among young adults on an urban college campus containing an urban farm. We developed and implemented a cross-sectional survey instrument, tailored for the community college population, to examine dietary intake and gauge PBD familiarity/exposure, knowledge, perceptions, and attitudes. METHODS A cross-sectional survey was conducted Fall 2020 through Spring 2021 at Kingsborough Community College in Brooklyn, NY (N=8,849). Participants (N=287) completed a 70-item online survey that included sociodemographic questions, food frequency questions, and five PBD scales developed for this survey (familiarity, knowledge, attitudes, exposure, perception). RESULTS Cronbach’s alpha reliability scores were run on the five PBD scales demonstrating strong reliability results for familiarity (α=.80), knowledge (α=.72), attitudes (α=.70); lower reliability for exposure (α=.48), and perception (α=.64). Of all participants, 75% reported a 3-6 servings per week or less of fruit alone and vegetables alone. Those with exposure to growing fruits and vegetables reported higher intake of fruit (p-value=0.002) and vegetables (p-value=0.033) compared with those who reported no exposure to ‘growing’. Those exposed to the ‘campus farm/event’ had higher fruit intake (p-value =0.042) when split into high/low intake. CONCLUSIONS These findings suggest that community college students in our sample generally have an awareness and positive perception of a PBD and are willing to consider trying it, though many are not actively following a PBD. KEYWORDS Plant-based diet perceptions, nutrition, diet, fruit and vegetable gardening, urban farm, community college