Hundreds More US Hospitals To Get Plant-Based Meals By 2026

An additional 200 US hospitals will offer menus emphasizing plant-based foods by the end of the year.

Nonprofit Greener by Default (GBD) announced the expansion of its existing partnership with food services company Sodexo earlier this week, which already includes 131 hospitals. The total number of hospitals with plant-forward menus will reach around 400 by 2026.

The plant-forward menus preserve freedom of choice for patients, but positive plant-based meals are the default option for at least one meal per day. Dishes include Cajun Pastalaya, Southwest Potato Breakfast Bowl, and Balsamic Stuffed Portabella.

GBD and Sodexo first rolled out the program with 11 NYC Health+ Hospitals in 2022. GBD described the program so far as a “remarkable success” and noted that more than half of all eligible patients opt for plant-based options. In its first year alone, the GBD x Sodexo partnership has cut carbon emissions at participating hospitals by over one-third.

Read more: Plant-Based Diets Represent ‘Significant Opportunity’ To Address Global Challenges, Says Study

Plant-based hospitals, sustainability, and health

According to GBD, one Sodexo-served hospital has served 36 percent more people plant-based entrees since the program began. Meanwhile, patient selection of meat-based options has declined by 20 percent. If just 10 percent of the total 290,000 meals served by Sodexo in hospitals every day shift from meat to plants, that would be up to 10 million per year.

A report from 2024 found that patient satisfaction with the default plant-based meals in all new New York City hospitals is at more than 90 percent. Positive attitudes towards plant-forward hospital menus are increasingly common outside of the US, too, with approximately one-third of UK-based people also backing a plant-based-by-default approach in healthcare.

Such an approach helps to promote overall health and can mitigate the risk of common chronic illnesses, like heart disease, as well as saving money and cutting carbon emissions. An open letter from UK doctors published in 2022 compared serving red and processed meat in hospitals to “distributing cigarettes” amongst already vulnerable patients.

Read more: Academy Of Nutrition And Dietetics Updates Position On Vegan Diets: What It Really Says