A draft law aims to guarantee healthy, balanced and sustainable plant-based options in the canteens of hospitals, schools, universities, public offices, care homes (RSAs), prisons and reception centres. The text, presented today at a press conference and whose first signatory is MP Eleonora Evi (PD), takes up the demands championed by REFOOD through its “Greener Canteens” campaign.
More choice, more health, more sustainability
The draft law “Support for the Mediterranean diet through the promotion of healthy and sustainable food options in public canteens” calls for a greater variety of plant-based sources to be introduced in collective catering menus. The aim is twofold: to guarantee healthy, balanced meals and to offer a genuine alternative to those who, for ethical, religious, cultural or health reasons, cannot or do not wish to consume foods of animal origin.
In hospitals, at university, at school or in the office, in care homes (RSAs), in prisons and in reception centres, adequate protein intake must also be ensured from plant-based sources. The text also recommends attention to environmental sustainability, to the seasonality of products and to local sourcing: a model that, thanks to reduced waste and greater use of legumes, would also help to keep costs down.
REFOOD’s contribution and the “Greener Canteens” campaign
The proposal reflects some of the observations we at REFOOD have put forward through our “Greener Canteens” campaign.
“As citizens, simply through the way we eat, we can influence so many dynamics, from our relationship with animals to environmental impact. More and more citizens are choosing a plant-based diet for ethical, religious or other reasons, but in the canteen they cannot find suitable menus and healthy, balanced plant-based meals.”
— Alessandro Ricciuti, President of REFOOD
A survey conducted in 2025 by REFOOD across 80 hospitals, among patients and workers, reveals that 36.9% of respondents had no access to any plant-based option during their hospital stay or work shift. The accounts gathered are telling:
“They gave me ham and broth soup made with meat stock, even though I had told them I was vegan.”
“For three days they gave me nothing but boiled chard.”
Not just personal choices: a public health issue
“The amount of meat we consume around the world is too high,” explained Eleonora Evi at the press conference, “and the concept of protein must not be confined to animal protein alone. We want to start again from the Mediterranean diet and put the focus on plant-based foods.” The environmental impact is also significant: “70% of agricultural land is used to produce feed for livestock farms,” the MP recalled, expressing the hope that the proposal — which has already gathered numerous endorsements — will find support among parliamentarians of different political leanings.
The Italian Society of Human Nutrition (SINU) points out that in Italy the Mediterranean diet model is poorly followed, especially among children and adolescents, with meat consumption exceeding prudent thresholds and intakes of vegetables and whole grains often inadequate.
Acting on food provision means working on the prevention of many diseases. As Giada Guidi, of the Scientific Society for Vegetarian Nutrition (SSNV), who spoke at the press conference, points out: “Over half of all mortality in Italy is due to conditions such as cardiovascular disease and cancer, which are strongly influenced by modifiable risk factors. One in two Italians is overweight. Among children, one in three.”
Italy lagging behind Europe
Many European countries are already moving in this direction. “Portugal was the first country to make a plant-based option in all public canteens compulsory by law, back in 2017,” said Roberta Alessandrini of the Physicians Association for Nutrition (PAN International). “Finland’s canteens will have to cut consumption of meat and dairy products by 50% by 2030. In Denmark, Sweden, Poland and the United Kingdom there are rules that encourage plant-based sources on menus.”
A pilot project in HOSPITAL
At the press conference — moderated by actor Alan Cappelli Goetz, ambassador of the EU Climate Pact — we also announced that REFOOD, in collaboration with SSNV, will develop in the coming months a pilot project at the Pisa University Hospital (Azienda Ospedaliero Universitaria Pisana) to introduce more healthy, balanced plant-based options for patients and staff, and for the training of cooks.
We’re not stopping here
In the coming months we will continue to follow the parliamentary process so that this proposal is scheduled and debated. We are also preparing further initiatives to bring discussion to this issue, which we consider so important and yet so neglected.
We invite all citizens to support the draft law by signing the petition on the dedicated page: redefine.food/mense-green.
