New York State and California have passed laws that hospital patients must be able to have a plant-based option at each meal. The final text of the California law states “(c) For the purposes of this section, “plant-based meals” shall mean entire meals that contain no animal products or byproducts, including meat, poultry, fish, dairy, or eggs.” The New York law states “plant-based food option” means a food or beverage that is free of animal products and that has nutritional value comparable to the non-plant-based food option that it replaces. These laws appear to be using “plant-based” to mean “vegan.”

The non-profit nutrition organization Oldways has made it simpler for hospitals to serve vegan meals. Oldways has created the Plant Forward Plates Healthcare Toolkit that features more than 40 recipes scaled up to 100 servings, therapeutic meal plans, nutritional analyses, and food-ordering guides. After reviewing the menus and recipes, all of which are vegan, The Vegetarian Resource Group has endorsed this useful tool.

The Plant Forward Plates Toolkit fee is being waived to encourage hospitals to make 2020 the year they add healthy and delicious plant-based meals to their menus. To download a free copy, visit https://oldwayspt.org/pfp