Should plant-based hospital meals be the law? An American experience

ABSTRACT

Hospitalization is an unparalleled opportunity for physicians to educate patients about the interconnection between poor dietary choices and the occurrence of many chronic diseases. For those patients who are ready to embrace nutrition as an essential part of the healing process, however, it is oftentimes difficult to find healthy menus at hospitals. Meat-based entrées, sugar-sweetened beverages and candy appear to be omnipresent in cafeterias and restaurants at U.S. hospitals. On the other hand, healthy plant-based menus are still the exception rather than the rule.

Some states undertook considerable efforts to change this and made plant-based meals the law. Upon request by a patient, hospitals in New York are now required by law to provide plant-based options at every meal. This recent development triggered a controversial discussion within the medical community whether other states should follow this example and make plant-based hospital menus the law as well.

This editorial illuminates why mandatory plant-based hospital menus could be a win-win situation for many involved stakeholders, including patients, hospitals and food services. This step is not a loss-marking venture for hospitals but rather a chance to save money and to improve corporate brand marketing at the same time.

The introduction of mandatory plant-based menus in hospitals at a large scale represents a unique opportunity at the nexus of health, innovative corporate strategies and economics. Adequate framework conditions are necessary to ensure that all individuals can make healthy and affordable dietary choices while being hospitalized.

KEYWORDS:

• Hospital Menu
• law
• mandatory
• meal
• plant-based Menu
• vegan

Declaration of interest

The author declares that there is no conflict of interest. The author reports no proprietary or commercial interest in any product mentioned or concept discussed in this article.

Reviewer disclosure

A reviewer on this manuscript has disclosed that they are an Adjunct Professor of Medicine at the George Washington University School of Medicine. They also serve without compensation as president of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine and Barnard Medical Center in Washington, DC, both nonprofit organizations providing educational, research, and medical services related to nutrition. They write books and articles and give lectures related to nutrition and health which they receive royalties and honoraria for. The other peer reviewers on this manuscript have no other relevant financial relationships or otherwise to disclose.

Author contributions

Maximilian Andreas Storz, MD, did the literature research, analyzed the data, designed and drafted the manuscript and submitted the final version. MA Storz is the sole author of the submitted manuscript.

Author disclosures

The author received no funding for this work. I hereby confirm, that the manuscript has not been accepted elsewhere for publication. The author declares that there is no conflict of interest. The author reports no proprietary or commercial interest in any product mentioned or concept discussed in this article.

Additional information

Funding

The author received no funding for this work.