Centre for Planetary Health & Sustainable Care

What Hospital Food Means for the Climate

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The Hidden Footprint of Hospital Meals

Hospitals are places of healing. Every day, thousands of patients across Nova Scotia receive meals to comfort, nourish, and support recovery. But behind each tray is a larger story that we rarely discuss.

Food systems worldwide account for a significant share of greenhouse gas emissions created by human activity. When hospitals serve meals at the scale they do, even simple menu choices can quietly add up to a significant environmental impacts.

At a time when climate change is putting pressure on healthcare systems, understanding this hidden impact matters. Food is not just nourishment. It is part of the climate story in healthcare.

0% of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide are created by food systems.

Why Food in Hospitals Matters

Hospital kitchens are busy places. Across five sites in Nova Scotia’s Halifax Regional Municipality, meals are prepared from morning to night for approximately 1000 patients every day of the year.

Given the scale of these operations, even small decisions about what foods are offered and how often they are served can have real consequences. A single high-impact food item, served thousands of times, can have a much greater climate impact than most people realize.

Food service is a part of hospital care that touches every patient. It also represents a subtle but powerful opportunity for climate action.

Food Categories and Contributions to Total GHG Emissions

Most food-related emissions in hospital menus come from animal-based items, especially beef and dairy. In contrast, non-animal-based foods contribute a much smaller share of total emissions. This suggests that focusing on a few high-emission items can have a larger effect on reducing environmental impact than changing the entire menu.

What We Found in Nova Scotia's Central Zone Hospitals

Over one full year of patient meal orders, a clear picture emerged.

Food Volume

The scale of food production required for a regional hospital system is immense.

0tonnes

Monthly Total: That is equivalent to the weight of 40 mid-sized cars every month.

Impact Per Day

Every single patient "bed day" carries an environmental footprint from the kitchen.

0kgCO2e

Average greenhouse gas emissions generated per patient per day.

The Imbalance

Animal products have a disproportionate impact on our environment.

Food Mass26%

GHG Emissions58%

Animal products account for only 26% of food mass but 58% of total emissions.

Did you know?

Monthly Scale

The total volume of patient care managed across HRM hospitals is significant.

0 Bed-Days

Total Impact

This patient activity generates a major monthly carbon footprint.

0 tonnes(t) CO2e Equivalent to driving a gas-powered car 1.2 million km, or 30 trips around the Earth's equator.

Daily Footprint

Every single day, each patient meal plan contributes to the total environmental impact.

0 kg per day

Average Greenhouse Gas Emissions by Food Category

Average greenhouse gas emissions vary widely across food categories in hospital menus. Beef and dairy products contribute the highest emissions, while plant-based proteins, grains, and beverages have a much smaller footprint. This gap shows that choosing lower-emission foods can significantly reduce the climate impact of hospital meals without affecting food service levels.

Do we really need beef?

There is strong evidence that eating a lot of red meat, particularly beef, can have negative consequences for our health and the health of the planet. Research links high consumption of unprocessed red meat to increased risks of colorectal and breast cancer, type 2 diabetes, and heart disease. Beef is also one of the most greenhouse gas intensive foods, meaning its impact extends beyond individual health to the climate.

In a hospital setting, where food is part of the healing process, offering beef heavy meals may work against both patient health and climate goals. Reducing beef and highlighting healthier, lower emission options can support patient recovery while also lowering the environmental impact of hospital meals. Even small changes in hospital menus can deliver meaningful benefits for patients and the planet.

Impact Simulator: The Power of the Plate

Toggle the protein to see how swapping beef for chicken transforms food-related greenhouse gas emissions of 34,000 patient bed-days.

Beef Protein Chicken Protein

30% REDUCTION

Total Monthly Emissions

300 tonnes(t) CO2e

SAVE 2.6 kg

Impact Per Bed Day

8.7 kgCO2e

Environmental Equivalency

🚗🚗🚗🚗🚗 🚗🚗🚗🚗🚗 🚗🚗🚗🚗🚗 🚗🚗

Equivalent to removing 17 cars from the road for one year.

Tracking Monthly Impact

Replacing beef with chicken consistently lowers greenhouse gas emissions per hospital bed across the year. The shaded area shows a steady reduction each month, typically around 20 to 30 percent compared to the regular menu. This indicates that a single menu change can deliver meaningful and reliable emission savings without altering overall meal volume or service.

Hospital Meal Carbon Footprint

Use this tool to build a daily menu and see the estimated carbon footprint of your meal choices. Small changes in what we eat can lead to meaningful reductions in food related emissions.

Carbon Menu | Searchable Dashboard

Total Carbon Footprint

0.00 kg CO2e

Beef → Chicken Swap

-0% REDUCTION

Daily CO2 Savings

0.00 kg Saved

Stacked Meal Impact

Swap Analysis

A Path Forward

The findings from this research show that meaningful change is both realistic and achievable. Hospitals can make a measurable difference by adopting more climate-friendly defaults, expanding plant-based options, and gradually shifting away from the highest-impact foods. Even small steps—such as offering a wider range of lower-emission proteins or redesigning how choices are presented—can create system-level benefits.

Nova Scotia Health's Nutrition and Food Services team is already leading the way. They are committed to offering menu options that are healthier for patients, healthier for the planet, and economically practical. Ongoing projects to introduce more plant-based meals and redesign menus to highlight them demonstrate real momentum and an exciting opportunity for lasting change.

By rethinking the meals served every day, healthcare can take meaningful steps toward a future that protects both people and the planet.

Acknowledgements:

This page was researched and developed by Georgia Murray and Saeed Saffari and was made possible with data and support from staff from Nutrition and Food Services, Nova Scotia Health, and Dr. Peter Tyedmers, expert in the sustainability of food systems from the School for Resource and Environmental Studies at Dalhousie University. The majority of 'Canadianized' environmental impact values were provided by Basak Topcu and Dr. Goretty Dias from the University of Waterloo.

Sources

[1] Murray, G., Rainham, D., Tyedmers, P., Christie, S., Topcu, B., & Skerry, R. (2025). Dishing up sustainability: Investigating inpatient food consumption and farm to fork greenhouse gas equivalent emissions in Nova Scotia’s Central Zone hospitals. Dalhousie University.
[2] Poore, J., & Nemecek, T. (2018). Reducing food’s environmental impacts through producers and consumers. Science, 360(6392), 987–992.
[3] Eckelman, M. J., Sherman, J. D., & MacNeill, A. J. (2018). Life cycle environmental emissions and health damages from the Canadian healthcare system. PLOS Medicine, 15(7), e1002623.
[4] Willett, W., et al. (2019). Food in the Anthropocene: The EAT Lancet Commission on healthy diets from sustainable food systems. The Lancet, 393(10170), 447–492.
[5] Topcu, B., & Dias, G. M. (n.d.). Farm-to-fork Canadian food life cycle inventory database . University of Waterloo. Unpublished data. Funded by SSHRC Insight Grant No. 435-2017-0544.
[6] Global Burden of Disease 2019 Risk Factors Collaborators. (2020). Global burden of 87 risk factors in 204 countries and territories, 1990–2019 . The Lancet, 396(10258), 1223–1249.
[7] Lescinsky, H., Afshin, A., Ashbaugh, C., et al. (2022). Health effects associated with consumption of unprocessed red meat: A burden of proof study . Nature Medicine, 28, 2075–2082.