ArticleJournal of human nutrition and dietetics : the official journal of the British Dietetic Association2024
A qualitative exploration of barriers, facilitators and best practices for implementing environmental sustainability standards and reducing food waste in veterans affairs hospitals.
Article in Journal of human nutrition and dietetics : the official journal of the British Dietetic Association, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- Environmental Performance Indicators Used in Healthcare Foodservices: A Scoping Review.Journal of human nutrition and dietetics : the official journal of the British Dietetic Association · 2026Article
- Foodservice Models and Nutrition Practices in Spinal Facilities: Insights and Opportunities for Improvement From a Pilot Multinational Survey.Journal of human nutrition and dietetics : the official journal of the British Dietetic Association · 2025Article
- How Sustainable Are Hospital Menus in the United Kingdom? Identifying Untapped Potential Based on a Novel Scoring System for Plant-Based Provisions.Journal of human nutrition and dietetics : the official journal of the British Dietetic Association · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundTo improve the healthfulness of foods offered while accelerating the use of environmental sustainability practices, it is important to engage hospital food service operators in the adoption of such practices. The purpose of this study was to explore barriers, facilitators and best practices for implementing environmental sustainability standards in food service among veterans affairs (VA) hospitals in the United States.
methodsWe conducted an online survey with 14 VA hospital food service directors and then 11 qualitative interviews. The survey assessed motivations for initiating sustainability standards and included a self-rating of implementation for each of five standards: increasing plant-forward dishes, procuring and serving sustainable foods that meet organic/fair trade and other certifications, procuring and serving locally produced foods, reducing food waste and reducing energy consumption. Interviews were transcribed verbatim. Qualitative analysis, including coding of themes and subthemes, was conducted by two coders to determine barriers, facilitators and best practices for each of these five standards. Quantitative methods (counts and frequencies) were used to analyse the survey data.
resultsParticipants had an average of 5 years of experience implementing sustainability standards. The top three motivators cited were reducing food waste, serving healthier foods and increasing efficiency or cost savings. Barriers revolved around patient preferences, contractual difficulties and costs related to reducing waste. Facilitators included taste testing new recipes that include more sustainable food options and easy access to sustainable products from the prime vendor. Best practices included making familiar dishes plant-forward and plate waste studies to prevent overproduction.
conclusionsAlthough there were many barriers to implementation, food service directors had solutions for overcoming challenges and implementing food service sustainability standards, which can be tested in future sustainability initiatives.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.