When it comes to the issue of climate change, the general public still barely understands the link between their diet and global warming.
Last August 25’s Healthy Food in Health Care Forum, organized by Health Care Without Harm-Asia and the Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical Foundation, served as an eye-opener for over 150 participants from the health sector in the Philippines to take the lead in promoting sustainable food in their health facilities, thereby improving the health of patients and health workers while also significantly reducing their environmental footprint.
Promoting a green way of life
Dr. Chin-Lon Lin
Dr. Chin-Lon Lin, Taiwan’s leading food expert and CEO of the Tzu Chi International Medical Association shared how the Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical Foundation and its hospitals have been promoting sustainable food as a way of life.
“Everywhere in the world, the effect of climate change continues to worsen environmental and human conditions. Hospitals need to take a leadership role in implementing sustainable changes because our sector uses a lot of resources and a lot of people pass through our facilities.”
In Taiwan, the Budhhist Tzu Chi Medical Foundation and its hospitals are known for promoting a vegetarian lifestyle among hospital employees and patients, an initiative which has also significantly lessened their carbon emission. In 2011, by serving vegetarian meals in its six (6) hospitals in Taiwan, Tzu Chi Foundation 2.4M kilograms of C02 in a year.
According to the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), total emission from livestocks amounts to 7.1 Gigatonnes of Co2-equiv per year, representing 14.5 percent of all anthropogenic Green House Gas (GHG) emissions.
Dr. Lin also emphasized the many benefits of a vegetarian or plant-based diet in people’s health as well as the environment. Aside from being low in cholesterol and high in fiber, vegetarian diet is also an effective and practical way to reduce carbon footprint. Reduction of livestock also helps fight obesity, hypertension, and diet-related cancer.
Aside from growing their own organic produce in their own farm, the Foundation also holds vegetarian cooking classes, and put up vegetarian food courts within hospital facilities.
HCWH-Asia Director Merci Ferrer
Sustainable food in Philippine hospitals
Josephine Guiao of the Department of Health’s Health Facility Development Bureau also shared the government’s various initiatives in promoting sustainable food among Filipinos.
“As members of the health team, we are looked upon to be the source of accurate, reliable and evidence – based nutrition information for our client to make informed and rightful choices.”
One of the DOH’s programs that promote healthy and sustainable lifestyle includes Meatless Monday Motivational Campaign, which is presently implemented in some of the 70 DOH hospitals nationwide once a day.
“Meatless Monday has a pending bill (Housebill 6311), and should it be passed into law, it will aid in the campaign to control greenhouse gas emission contributing to climate change and environmental degradation, as well as lessen the risks to non-communicable disease sush as hypertension, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer and obesity.”
Another initiative is the implementation of Department Memorandum No. 2011 – 0191 or the support for the Organic Food and Naturally Grown Vegetable and Fruits, whichpromotes the consumption of organic foods which include meat, vegetable and green leafies, culinary and medicinal herbs, rootcrops, nuts, rice and fruits among others in some DOH hospitals.
Also echoing what Dr. Lin and Ms. Guiao said about sustainable food were panel reactors lifestyle medicine specialist Dr. Kim Manez of the Adventist Medical Center; Dr. Ricardo Adriano Jr., President of the Philippine College of Hospital Administrators; and Nurse Adah Silvera, President of the League of Philippines Government Nurses, Inc.
HCWH staff and Tzu Chi volunteers with speakers Nurse Adah Silvera of the League of Philippine Government Nurses, Inc., Dr. Chin-Lon Lin, Ms. Josephine Guaio (DSWD), Dr. Kim Manez (Adventist Medical Center), and Tzu Chi Philippines. President Alfredu Yu.
Greening hospitals through healthy food
Health Care Without Harm’s Global Green and Healthy Hospitals (GGHH) mobilizes the health sector to take action in reducing their environmental footprint by working on 10 interrelated goals (Leadership, Chemicals, Energy, Waste, Water, Transportation, Food, Pharmaceuticals, Buildings, Purchasing).
“We hope this forum is just the beginning of more future discussions on how we can work together to transform our hospitals,” expressed HCWH-Asia Director Merci Ferrer. ““As a major consumer of food, health facilities should take the lead in modeling and promoting health and sustainability through their food choices"
Click here for the complete presentations of Dr. Lin and Ms. Guiao.
Participants were served vegetarian dinner after the forum.