As the health sector faces a growing mandate for climate action and sustainability, food services represent one of the most immediate and high-impact opportunities for change. This session will explore how health care organizations can prepare for emerging sustainability mandates and accreditation standards that will require planetary health–aligned menus, while also using menus, procurement, and food environments to lead broader systems change. Framed within Nourish’s 100 Million Better Bites campaign, presenters will share a practical roadmap for implementing a Planetary Health Menu Framework grounded in nutrition science, operational realities, and culinary innovation. Drawing on pilot projects, implementation experience, and current research, the session will highlight strategies to transition to plant-forward menus in inpatient and retail settings while maintaining nutrition quality, patient satisfaction, and cultural relevance. Participants will leave with actionable tools to engage interdisciplinary partners, implement change, and measure sustainability and health outcomes.
Business and Social Sciences
Dalhousie University
Dr. Kathleen Kevany is a social psychologist and specializes in systems analysis for individual and shared well-being. She is a leading authority on food systems to support human, animal, and planetary health. She has co-edited the world’s definitive guide on policies and practices for sustainable diets. As a certified Psychotherapist, for over a decade she ran her own counselling and consulting firm, the Decentralization Intelligence Agency. As a Professor at Dalhousie University's Faculty of Agriculture, Kathleen advances the global Sustainable Development Goals and Canada’s calls to action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. She is working to help shift practices for greater sustainability for current and future generations. Kathleen is a geek for science – for data driven decision making informed by sensibility and humanity.