Making hospital food cool

Culinary demos wow taste buds at CleanMed

There were smiles and satisfied looks all around as attendees of CleanMed, the premier conference on health care sustainability, popped samples of plant-forward dishes into their mouths. Crab-less Chesapeake cake with tangy miso slaw and wasabi tartar sauce, farro and lentil shaker salad, orange chickpea muffin, and chocolate black bean cupcake were all on the menu. These tasty creations make the most of plant proteins and demonstrate that culinary creativity abounds in plant-forward cooking.

This demonstration was the grand finale of the Hospital Food is Cool workshop at CleanMed, our annual conference that took place this year in Nashville from May 6–9.

The workshop drew participants from across the country to learn about strategies to implement a plant-forward meal program and prepared participants to make the case to colleagues why to start or expand one at their facility.

Chief among the strategies shared was the Cool Food Pledge, a cross-sector initiative that challenges signatories to reduce their greenhouse gases from food purchasing by 25% by 2030.

Although the pledge is cross-sector, health care participants make up 50% of the signatories, and Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center became the first New England hospital to join in April.

“I joined the Cool Food Pledge because we were already implementing plant-centered meals in our hospital and I wanted to be able to tie our food initiatives with my hospital’s Environmental Sustainability Council’s goals and communicate the progress we are making.” — Deborah Keane, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center

More than 39% of Americans are looking to incorporate more plant-based foods into their diets, and 58% of younger consumers (ages 18–34) are already eating plant-based proteins. Increasing plants and reducing meat in the diet can have a variety of health benefits, lowering the risk for diet-related disease and associated health care costs.

Plant-centered eating also benefits the environment. The Cool Food Pledge ties health care’s healthy food initiatives to their climate initiatives. Food production is a significant contributor to climate change, accounting for nearly a quarter of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. But not all foods have equal impacts. Producing animal based foods accounts for two-thirds of agricultural GHG emissions and more than three-quarters of agricultural land use.

As people strive to make healthy and sustainable food choices, they are becoming increasingly interested in plant-based foods, and the Cool Food Pledge provides hospitals with the resources and technical support they need to serve the foods people want, while slashing emissions.

Learn more practicegreenhealth.org/coolfoodpledge