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Balanced Menus Challenge The Balanced Menus Challenge was launched in 2009, and asks hospitals around the country to commit to a 20% reduction in meat and poultry purchases over 12 months. This commitment serves as both a climate change mitigation mechanism and a pathway to serving the healthiest, most sustainably produced meat available. It is also an opportunity for hospitals to model healthy eating patterns for patients, staff and visitors. The reasons for taking the Balanced Menus Challenge are profound and compelling. We know that most hospitals buy substantial amounts of meat, typically through large distributors who source from the U.S. commodity beef, pork and poultry markets. We also know that there is a significant cost associated with how meat and poultry are produced and distributed via our industrialized system including antibiotic resistance, and contamination of our air and water. U.S. food production relies heavily on fossil fuels, and red meat production has a particularly large climate footprint. Americans eat more than twice the global average of beef, poultry, pork and other meat. Hospital food service operations often mirror this trend. Reducing the overall amount of meat served in hospital facilities provides health, social and environmental benefits that are consistent with prevention-based medical practices. Hospitals that reduce their meat offerings save money, which can then be reinvested in purchasing higher-quality sustainably-produced meat. Hospitals can demonstrate their leadership in institutional food service by reducing the overall quantity of meat and poultry they serve and through preferential purchasing of sustainably produced meats deliver an important preventive health message to patients, staff and their community. |
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