Green Buckeye RN

Nurses’ Group Calls for Nurses to  Serve as Role Models in Effort to Improve Health Through Local Sustainable Food Purchasing

(Arlington, VA)  Health Care Without Harm (HCWH), an international coalition of organizations working to transform the health care sector so it is ecologically sustainable has achieved key support for its sustainable food sourcing initiative from HCWH member organization American Nurses Association (ANA).  On June 27, the ANA  approved a resolution to support healthy,  sustainable food systems in the United States.  The resolution calls for nurses to serve as role models and educators by promoting nutritious foods from sustainable local food systems, particularly in the health care setting.

“We are pleased to have the nation’s premier nursing organization support steps that would increase local, sustainable  food offerings in the health care setting,” stated Jaime Harvie, co-chair of HCWH Working Group on Food.  “This endorsement  from the nursing community adds to the support of healthcare professional organizations calling for food production methods which eliminate the impacts to our health from our current resource intensive industrialized agriculture production methods.

The American Nurses Association also pledged to educate nurses regarding the known and projected harmful effects of the use of food additives, including hormones and antibiotics; to support the public’s right to know through food labeling; to advocate for local, state, national and international laws, regulations and policies to reduce the presence of environmental contaminants and additives on all foods; and to support local sustainable food systems.

The pledge is the latest in a series of moves by the health care community to improve food quality as a means of preventing illness.  HCWH has initiated the “Healthy Food in Health Care Pledge” for health facilities.  The pledge calls for facilities to, among other actions, increase the offering of fresh fruits and vegetables and reduce unhealthy (trans- and saturated) fats and sweetened foods; encourage  vendors and/or food management companies to supply  food that is produced without synthetic pesticides and hormones or antibiotics ; and implement a stepwise program to identify and adopt sustainable food procurement.  More than 128 hospitals have signed the document.  HCWH recently implemented a similar pledge for healthcare industry food service contractors.

HCWH has an ambitious healthy food agenda, which includes buying fresh food locally or from certified dealers; avoiding food raised with growth hormones and antibiotics; encouraging group purchasing organizations (GPOs) to support healthy food in healthcare;; supporting local farmers and farming organizations, introducing farmers markets and on-site food box programs; reducing food waste, and establishing an overarching food policy at each health facility.

Heath Care without Harm, an international coalition of more than 473 organizations in 52 countries, is working to transform the health care sector, without compromising patient safety or care, so that it is ecologically sustainable and no longer a source of harm to public health and the environment. For more information on the healthy food pledge see http://www.noharm.org/us/food/pledge. To learn more about HCWH’s work on food and other issues related to health care www.healthyfoodinhealthcare.org.