There’s news from Britain today about hospital food and it isn’t good. Numerous hospitals in the England are throwing away as much as half of their meals.
As anyone who’s stayed in or visited a hospital would guess, gross unsatisfying food is responsible for much of this waste. Insert your own English cuisine joke here.
Nutritionists said the use of mass catering was “stewing all the goodness out of food”, while meals that traveled long distances were often in a “congealed and unappetizing state” by the time they were served to patients.
All kidding aside, food waste is by no means specific to English hospitals. The same problem exists in all hospitals, although increasingly, hospitals are composting their abundant food waste.
And it’s not just the quality of the food that leads to waste. Often, patients can’t eat regular meals or don’t have anyone to help them eat. It’s difficult to predict how many meals are needed. And the massive scale of cooking means it’s hard to fine tune the amount of meals.
Yes, hospitals have limitations like diminished appetites that create a lot of waste. And yes, some progressive hospitals are improving the quality of their food to cheer patients while cutting waste. Still, hospitals have much room for improvement.