If a hospital is a place of health, why doesn’t the food it offers reflect that? This is the question that sparked our Greener Canteens campaign. To answer with data, in 2025 we conducted a survey on the availability and quality of plant-based options and on food waste in Italian hospital canteens. We collected 379 responses from patients and staff who use the canteen, across more than 80 hospitals throughout Italy. The results describe a system that struggles to put nutrition at the center of care.
The key figures
- 92% rate the quality of the available plant-based meals as poor or mediocre
- 37% of patients had no access to any vegan option
- 72% observed frequent food waste
- 80+ hospitals involved across Italy
Among respondents, 54.8% follow a vegan diet, 21% vegetarian, 18% flexitarian, and 6.2% omnivorous.
What isn’t working
The picture that emerges is clear. In many hospitals, plant-based alternatives simply don’t exist. Where they do exist, dietary confusion is the norm: vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free are mixed up with one another, and patients receive food that is incompatible with their diet. Plant proteins are ignored: legumes are treated as a side dish, never as a main protein source. It even happens that meat and animal products are served to those who have explicitly requested a plant-based meal, even in oncology and cardiology wards.
Voices from the wards
I am an oncology patient. I am shocked that, during chemotherapy, patients are being served cooked ham relentlessly. Hospitals should heal us, not make us sick or set a bad example!
Patient — IRCCS San Matteo, Pavia, Oncology
I informed them that I am vegan during pre-admission. The day after my operation, they gave me cooked ham and broth soup made with meat stock. I hadn’t eaten in 48 hours.
Patient — San Luca, Pecetto Torinese, Gynecology
Cured meats, a Group 1 carcinogen, are offered every day, while legumes, which should be the foundation of a Mediterranean diet, are served only once a week.
Hospital staff — Vimercate Hospital, Lombardy
Why it matters
The scientific evidence is solid: plant-based diets are associated with a lower risk of type 2 diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease and cancer. Poor nutrition costs around 8 trillion dollars a year globally in hidden costs. And in Italy, 72% of the population is lactose intolerant. Offering quality plant-based options in hospital canteens is not an ideological request: it is prevention, inclusion and savings for public healthcare.
Join the change
Health in hospitals starts with the plate, and every signature counts. Sign the petition to call for more plant-based options in hospital canteens. If you are a healthcare professional, sign the open letter to the government. You can also support the campaign with a donation. Together we can transform hospital canteens into places that truly promote health.
