A new campaign called Plants First Healthcare, led by senior NHS doctors, has called on UK hospitals to offer plant-based meals by default to benefit human and planetary health.
All NHS trusts and healthcare leaders across the UK have received an open letter supporting the campaign, signed by 24 healthcare organisations representing more than 1 million members. These include the UK Health Alliance on Climate Change, the British Dietetic Association (BDA) Sustainable Diets Group, the Centre for Sustainable Healthcare, and Nuffield Health, among others.
Additionally, the letter has been signed by over 1,000 healthcare professionals, including high-profile doctors such as Professor Tim Spector, Dame Parveen Kumar, and Dr Fiona Godlee. Notable climate campaigners like TV presenter Chris Packham and journalist George Monbiot have also added their signatures.
The Plants First Healthcare campaign has launched alongside the new Food Systems Policy Report by the UK Health Alliance on Climate Change, which calls for the normalisation of plant-based meals in healthcare settings.
The power of prevention
If implemented, the scheme proposed by Plants First Healthcare would make plant-based meals the default option in hospitals while still allowing patients and staff to opt into meals containing meat and dairy. Research indicates that adopting default plant-based meals in public catering could save the NHS £74 million annually.
According to Plants First Healthcare, the initiative would also significantly improve national health outcomes, address health inequalities, and help meet climate and nature targets, including the NHS’s pledge to reach net-zero emissions. While some hospital trusts have already adopted low-carbon menus or signed the Cool Food Pledge, which commits them to reducing food emissions by 25% by 2030, Plants First Healthcare believes progress is currently too slow.
The campaign notes that a recent report on the state of the NHS in England found that improving the sustainability of the service and focusing on “the power of prevention” should be key priorities. This aligns with the goals of Plants First Healthcare.
Changing dietary habits
The launch of the campaign follows the success of a similar initiative in New York City, where default plant-based meals were introduced in 2022 in collaboration with the nonprofit Greener by Default. The program proved so popular that it was extended from lunchtime to dinnertime.
Last month, a study found that the New York initiative has extremely high patient acceptance at over 95%, while patient satisfaction is over 90%. Furthermore, adopting plant-based menus reduced the hospital system’s emissions by 36% and saved a total of $318,000 in 2023. Inspired by these results, Plants First Healthcare is partnering with Greener by Default with the aim of replicating this success in the UK.
“According to the 2023 Lancet Countdown report, 70,000 deaths in the UK in 2020 were associated with insufficient intake of nutritious plant-based foods (such as fruit, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts and seeds),” said Dr Shireen Kassam, Campaign co-lead and Consultant Haematologist at King’s College London. “Hence showcasing the benefits of a plant-based diet within healthcare settings should be part of educational efforts to change dietary habits of the UK public. This would not only provide immediate cost savings to the NHS, but also give longer-term healthcare benefits for patients, while drastically cutting carbon emissions.”
