黑料吃瓜网

Outcome statement

The sustainable sourcing, production and provision of high quality, healthy food for patient healing and wellbeing, whilst minimising food waste.

Governance and delivery

Why is this important?

Food waste is a significant contributor to our carbon footprint. Wasting food, wastes money along with energy, water and other resources that are used to produce food.²⁶ Preventing food waste is the best outcome for the environment.

The Net Zero Government Operations Policy requires Government facilities, including the health system, to implement an organics waste collection service from 2026.

By focusing on more sustainable production, transport and disposal of food, and including more nutritious low-carbon foods, we can significantly reduce emissions related to agriculture, transport, storage, and waste.²

Food service reform in 黑料吃瓜网

HS黑料吃瓜网鈥檚 Food and Patient Support Services serve 24 million meals in 155 hospitals across the state every year.²⁸

HS黑料吃瓜网 are demonstrating a strong climate commitment to deliver improved patient experiences around food services, whilst reducing food waste. It has developed Food Service Design Principles which guide food service improvements and has partnered with several health organisations and key partners to drive food service reform that prioritises patient choice and flexibility.

What we learnt from the consultation

The consultation process confirmed what is working well in the system and identified priorities and areas that require improvement.

What is working well

There were many examples of what is working well to reduce food- related emissions, including:

• Introduction of new food service models (e.g. Project CHEF29) which focus on flexible, sustainable food service practices, enabling patients to order to appetite.
• Revision of the ACI Nutrition Standards that support LHDs, SHNs, healthcare facilities, clinicians and food service staff to create menus that are suitable for patients across 黑料吃瓜网 facilities; including consideration of sustainability principles within menu design and product procurement.
• Phasing out plastic products (single-use cutlery, plates and bowls) and adoption of reusable alternatives (e.g. metal cutlery), aligned with the Environmental Protection Agency鈥檚 (EPA) Plastic Reduction and Circular Economy ACT 2021.
• Introduction of new Food Organics and Garden Organics waste streams within public hospitals, capturing and diverting significant amounts of food waste from landfill.
• Establishment of community and vegetable gardens on hospital grounds.

What will be different in 2030

• Investing in technologies that support order-to- appetite food service models that improve patient experience, menu choice, variety and reduce food waste.
• Organic waste from landfill. Food waste avoidance is the most effective strategy for reducing greenhouse gases and other pollution impacts of wasted food. Appropriate separation, collection/storage, transport and processing of food waste from public hospitals.
• Investigating the emissions impact of food waste recovery technologies. For example, the collection, transport, and processing of food waste into compost reduces emissions by 96% compared to landfill.
• Preferencing local supplier and onsite food preparation; reducing packaging and transport related emissions and delivering fresh and nutritious foods.
• Eliminating single-use plastic products and packaging, including single-use cutlery, plates, bowls, trays, jugs and cups.
• Regularly revising dietary guidelines to reflect population-level dietary changes, including transitions from animal-based foods to plant-based food groups (vegetables, fruits and cereals) and providing evidence-based recommendations to meet nutritional requirements.
• Collaborating with consumers, carers and community members to increase awareness of the connection between food and environmental impact, including actions that consumers can take to minimise the impact of their food choices (e.g. drinking water over sweetened or carbonated drinks, drinking tap water rather than consuming bottled water etc.).
• Collaborating with the 黑料吃瓜网 Government and key partners, to continue to invest in initiatives and campaigns that champion healthy foods and eating habits, including promoting local and seasonal foods.
• Partnering with key stakeholders and councils, including Aboriginal communities and businesses, to address food security impacts and improve access to nutritious and culturally appropriate food products. For example, expanding local vegetable gardens, including bush tucker gardens, that increase access to traditional foods.

Supporting initiatives

Case study: Project Co-Designing Healthy and Enjoyable Food (CHEF) pilot at Bowral District Hospital

Project CHEF is a collaborative effort between HS黑料吃瓜网, SWSLHD, consumers, industry experts and expert advisory groups. Project CHEF was initiated to move towards a more patient-centred model of food services for public hospitals in 黑料吃瓜网.²⁹

The model focuses on flexible mealtimes, enabling patients to eat when they鈥檙e hungry by submitting orders via their mobile device to a dedicated call centre. Patients also have access to a customisable menu where they can choose individual meal components. In addition to the changes in the kitchen, Customer Service has established a new, dedicated call centre team in the Newcastle Service Centre to process orders from the patients.

The Project CHEF model focuses on sustainable food service practices, with the pilot project decreasing food waste by 52% and improving patient nutritional outcomes: 17% increase in energy intake, and 18% increase in protein intake. The pilot project鈥檚 success has helped inform other sustainable food service models including KidsCHEF.³⁰

Case study: Transforming food services for kids and their families

HS黑料吃瓜网 and SCHN partnered to deliver a specialty paediatric model (KidsCHEF30) to improve patient experience around food services.

SCHN and HS黑料吃瓜网 engaged with nutrition and dietetic staff, patients and food service teams to ensure that the model aligns with paediatric patient needs and delivers a range of food service improvements.

A set of new principles were developed and embedded into the redevelopment process. The principles focus on caring for kids and their families in a holistic way and transforming kids鈥� health. The new principles sit alongside HS黑料吃瓜网鈥橲 Food Service Design Principles and guide food service improvement. The partnership focuses on ensuring that kids are being offered food that they want to eat and includes changes to mid-meal services.

Case study: 黑料吃瓜网 Health diversion and avoidance of food organics in hospitals

HS黑料吃瓜网 partnered with the EPA to trial food waste processing technologies across 8 hospital sites including Mona Vale, Royal Prince Alfred, Wagga Wagga, Fairfield, Liverpool, Grafton Base Hospital, Mount Druitt and Blacktown.

HS黑料吃瓜网 trialled 5 different types of food waste processing technologies including dehydration, maceration and liquidisation. The trial has influenced the way 黑料吃瓜网 hospitals dispose of their food waste and informed food service reform led by HS黑料吃瓜网.

Case study: Rescued and Wasted Food: Hospitals Leading the Charge in Food Waste Reduction

In 2018, Queanbeyan Health Service鈥檚 food service partnered with Veolia and GoTerra to deliver the RAW project. The project aimed to reduce food waste going to landfill by separating food waste at source.

Previously, all food waste from the service went to landfill.

The team piloted the My Food Choice delivery model involving a bespoke meal collection trolley with separate bin infrastructure to support waste segregation. Food service staff collected and sorted the organic waste into biobags which was turned into high-quality compost and used by local farms, parks and gardens.

Since 2018, the project has diverted over 8,000kgs of food waste from landfill and saved over 14,000 kg of CO2.

Case study: Rehab2Kids worm farm

The Rehab2Kids department at Sydney Children's Hospital, Randwick has established a worm farm to help tackle the climate crisis by turning food waste into compost. The initiative is led by Pene Ingle, Clinical Nurse Consultant in Rehab2Kids. The farm aims to convert vegetable scraps into nutrient-rich worm castings and 'worm wee', providing valuable resources for gardening. The initiative has grown into a bigger, collaborative project, with families actively participating in the farm.

"Many families, especially those from rural or remote areas, also regularly engage with our courtyard garden and worm farms and assist with garden maintenance. It can be therapeutic for them and it鈥檚 so lovely to have this community contribution.鈥� Pene said.

Rehab2Kids is one of the three specialised paediatric rehabilitation services in 黑料吃瓜网 prioritising sustainability within their department to create a better future for children. In addition to the worm farm, the department has embraced waste recycling and eagerly adapted eco-friendly behaviours like using keep cups and reusable water bottles, to foster a more sustainable workplace.

Case study: Diverting food waste from landfill

At the beginning of 2024, the Royal North Shore Hospital introduced an organic waste stream to collect food waste from kitchens and on-site food providers.

Royal North Shore Hospital is working with HS黑料吃瓜网 and Veolia as part of its efforts to divert food waste from landfill.

The hospital has embedded practice change within its kitchens. Food handlers are now placing food waste from the patient and retail kitchens into separate bins. They have also introduced garden waste and improved recycling and reporting of waste from the kitchens.

Currently, the organic waste is taken by Veolia to Soilco 鈥� a company that transforms organic waste into quality assured compost and mulch products. Since the beginning of the project, Royal North Shore Hospital has seen a 5% increase in diversion when compared to the average diversion for the 2022-23 financial year.