The Issue

Since the purchasing power of health care systems is enormous, the decisions health-care institutions make about food can have a substantial impact on public and environmental health.

By adopting food procurement policies that are environmentally sound and socially responsible, health care institutions can protect the health of workers, patients and communities, and they can have a positive impact on the ecological health of the planet.

Toward that goal, Health Care Without Harm is working with hospitals to adopt food procurement policies that:

• provide nutritionally improved food for patients, staff, visitors, and the general public
• support and create food systems that are ecologically sound, economically viable, and socially responsible.