Food's healing powers can help ailing health care, warming planet
Canada is warming at more than twice the global rate and there is no shortage of headlines ringing the climate alarm louder than ever. The escalating environmental effects from the climate emergency underscore the intricate interplay between human health and the well-being of our planet. As extreme temperatures become more common and air quality continues to be threatened by a fifth new season dedicated to forest fires, the toll on respiratory and cardiovascular health will continue to increase. And the risk of diseases transmitted to people from insects and animals and extreme weather events will affect human health and the infrastructure of health care.
This burden unfortunately falls hardest on the most vulnerable members of our society, including children, elders, people grappling with chronic health conditions and individuals navigating the inequities of low socioeconomic status.
Responding to climate change mitigation and adaptation with bold courage is imperative for safeguarding planetary health and the future of generations to come. The health-care sector has a tremendous opportunity to align with its core tenet of “do no harm” by taking bold climate leadership and addressing its current footprint.
A growing number of health-care providers are realizing the underused solution of food as medicine. Food powerfully intersects human and planetary health, making clear that nature and humans can only thrive together. The EAT-Lancet report identifies that our current food system operates beyond our planetary boundaries, and food is the single most powerful lever for returning to balance. Shifting away from intensively farmed meat and dairy to create menus where plant-based proteins and local, fresh ingredients take the spotlight will not only cut emissions but also improve patient healing.
Food in Canadian health care is a $4-billion annual opportunity to take significant climate action three times a day in health-care food services and reduce food waste — an estimated half of food served to patients goes uneaten.
An innovative network of health-care providers is leading in food-related solutions in Canada. As an organization dedicated to the transition toward more preventive, equitable and sustainable health-care systems, Nourish works with leaders through organizations such as Vancouver Coastal Health, which has tested and proved the power of food with its Planetary Health Menu project at Vancouver General Hospital. Data are being gathered on patient experience and food waste. Over the coming months, the menu items patients enjoyed the most will be incorporated into menus across VCH.
The project brought together food service leaders, dietitians, clinicians and sustainability experts to work alongside Ned Bell, renowned chef and sustainable food ambassador. Together, they created more than two dozen diverse and delicious menu items that feature lower-impact and primarily plant-powered ingredients. The project also engaged local farmers and artisans to source fresh, seasonal food where possible. Health-care providers have a timely opportunity to demonstrate leadership in planetary health. By transitioning to planetary health menus, institutions can leverage their significant buying power to improve healing, health equity and climate action.
It is an opportunity to shift the way we think about hospital food to recognize the central role it plays in recovery from illness and injury, and to better nourish people. It is also a chance for health-care organizations to not only model healthy and more sustainable eating patterns, but to provide inspiration for patients to maintain such practices at home, amplifying the lasting effects of such a change.
Canada was one of 124 countries that committed to the Climate and Health Declaration at the COP28 World Climate Action Summit. From tracking and reducing emissions data through the Coolfood Pledge to weaving Indigenous food ways into health-care menus, concerted policy efforts can help address climate and health-care challenges.
Health care has a timely opportunity — not to mention a moral imperative — to lead through action to address the climate emergency. By applying the power of food and shifting to sustainable and inclusive health-care food service, we can advance climate action, health equity, and community well-being.