Components of the Healthy Food in Health Care Pledge


Sustainable Food Procurement


Hospital purchasing policies
can address food concerns
and establish models for sustainability. In adopting sustainable procurement policies, health care
institutions can both directly and indirectly impact all arms
of the food system.


Characteristics of
sustainable food:

  • Organic/3rd party
    certified
  • RBGH free dairy
  • Antibiotic and hormone free meat &poultry
  • Cage free eggs
  • Certified safe seafood

Food and Food Purchasing-A Role for Health Care

Feeding the Future: Policy Options for Local Food-A Discussion Paper

 

Organic/3rd Party Certified

Organic food production involves no hormones, antibiotics, pesticides, artificial fertilizers, additives or genetically modified organisms.

 

Third party certified indicates that an independent 3rd party has evaluated a producer according to its organic standards.

 

 

Avoiding Pesky Produce Pesticides


HCWH Position Statement on Genetically Engineered Food

 

Purchasing Guide to Sourcing Food Product Without Genetically Engineered Ingredients

 

Food Eco-Labels: a Purchasing Guide

 

rBGH free

Recombinant growth hormone (rBGH) is a genetically engineered drug used to increase milk production in cows. It also increases cow susceptibility to udder infections leading to increased need for antibiotics. Most industrialized countries, including EU, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Japan, have banned rBGH.

 

A Purchasing Guide To Sourcing Dairy Products Produced Without rBGH

 

Nurses rBGH-Free Dairy Toolkit

 

 

 

 

Antibiotic & Hormone Free Meat and Poultry

Antibiotics are used on large feedlots for non-therapeutic purposes, namely to promote growth and prevent disease, in an effort to compensate for poor living conditions.

 

Current estimates indicate that over 70% of antibiotics used for humans in the U.S. are also used in animal feed.

 

The overuse of antibiotics is linked to the increase in antibiotic resistant bacteria that poses a risk to humans.

 

The AMA and other organizations have called for the discontinuation of the use of non-therapeutic antibiotics in animals.

 

 

Agricultural Overuse of Antibiotics: What Health Care Systems Can Do

 

Purchaser's Guide to Sourcing Sustainable Poultry

 

Guide to Poultry Eco-Labels

Seafood
Over fishing has resulted in the severe and in some cases collapse of fish populations. Fishing techniques, such as trawling, cause further harm by damaging habits and taking in by-catch. By-catch often includes young fish vital to population restoration.

 

Fish species that are high in the food chain, such as tuna, contain high mercury levels. Excess mercury intake is harmful, particularly to children and women of childbearing age.

 

Sustainable seafood means the catch is not from an overfished population and is caught with consideration of long term ecosystem health.

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

Monterey Bay Seafood Watch Card


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