Healthy Food in Health Care: Sustainable Food Systems in Bay Area Hospital

The Healthy Food in Health Care (HFHC) network aims to build a role for health care institutions in the sustainable food systems movement. This research provides an analysis of HFHC in the San Francisco Bay area, focusing on hospital efforts to increase purchases of locally grown produce and sustainably raised meat. Despite complex systemic and structural challenges, hospitals have implemented significant sustainable food projects and demonstrated their financial viability. Related advocacy efforts target institutional behavior change and public policy to address food system factors that contribute to chronic disease and health disparities. Support organizations such as the San Francisco Bay Area Chapter of Physicians for Social Responsibility and Health Care Without Harm have been instrumental in operationalizing the HFHC network locally and nationally. I describe opportunities for HFHC to broaden its base and increase its impact through research, demonstration projects, and advocacy strategies.