Balancing Patients' Eating Habits with Planetary Health-Pilot Study to Decrease Food Waste with Vegetarian Lunches using a Quality Improvement Approach.

Background: Patient health is greatly impacted by increased likelihood of malnutrition if food is not consumed. Food waste also contributes to greenhouse gas emissions and may be possibly reduced by offering vegetarian food options. Therefore, a Plan-Do-Study-Act intervention of "Vegetarian Week" was conducted in an urban geriatric rehabilitation unit. Method: Food waste was measured using the Visual Estimation Method, and the proportion of waste before and after the intervention was compared using a two-tailed Results: Study population was of 54 (2022) and 65 (2023) patients with the majority being male (62.5%), average age 74.5 years, average length of stay 33 days. Comparing pre- and post-intervention periods, overall food wastage increased at: breakfast (22% to 32%), lunch (22% to 32%), and dinner (20% to 25%) with Conclusion: Through evaluation of the patient food experience with Visual Estimation Method and surveys, the very complex issue of food satisfaction was explored in older adults. Although food waste was not decreased during this "Vegetarian Week" pilot, improving patient and planetary health requires ongoing efforts.