When Americans enter a hospital, they expect to receive care that helps them heal.
asserted
them → enter → care
They trust their doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals to provide the best possible treatments and give them the greatest chance of recovery.
asserted
doctors → trust → recovery
Yet too often, the food our nation’s hospitals serve contradicts that mission.
asserted
hospitals → serve → mission
Patients recovering from surgery, living with chronic diseases, or managing serious medical conditions may be served meals in hospitals meals featuring highly processed foods, refined carbohydrates, added sugars, and other ingredients that do little to support their recovery.
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that → recover → recovery
It’s a contradiction that should concern every American.
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that → ’ → American
And it’s one we’re determined to change.
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we → ’ → ?
Today, we announce that 250 hospitals across the United States have joined the Make Hospital Food Healthier Pledge, a nationwide initiative the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) launched to improve the nutritional quality of meals hospitals serve to patients and staff.
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hospitals → announce → patients
These commitments reflect a growing recognition among America’s healthcare leaders that food is an essential part of good medicine, and that hospitals should demonstrate that through the meals they serve.
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they → reflect → meals
Under President Trump’s leadership, the Make America Healthy Again movement is fundamentally rethinking the role of nutrition in American healthcare.
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movement → make → healthcare
But transforming American healthcare requires more than changing federal policies; it requires changing the environments in which Americans receive care.
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Americans → transform → care
Hospitals can help change those environments.
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Hospitals → help → environments
They care for our most vulnerable citizens, educate millions of patients and families, and earn their communities’ trust.
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They → care → trust
For patients recovering from surgery, fighting infections, or managing chronic illnesses, proper nutrition can support wound healing, preserve muscle mass, strengthen immune function, and improve recovery.
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nutrition → recover → recovery
Malnutrition, by contrast, correlates with longer hospital stays, more complications, and greater healthcare costs.
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Malnutrition → correlate → stays
Hospitals also have an opportunity to teach patients habits that can improve their health long after discharge.
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that → have → discharge
Consider a patient who enters the hospital for complications of Type 2 diabetes.
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who → consider → diabetes
That patient may receive excellent medical treatment and counseling about the importance of healthy eating.
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patient → receive → eating
But if the meals the hospital serves during their stay contradict that advice, what message are we sending?
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we → serve → message
A hospital meal should reinforce the care plan, not undermine it.
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meal → reinforce → it
The broader American healthcare foodservice market represents nearly $20 billion in annual economic activity.
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market → represent → activity
Their purchasing decisions influence which products suppliers develop, how suppliers price those products, and what becomes available to other institutions.
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what → influence → institutions
Imagine what could happen if hospitals across America began sending a consistent message to their suppliers: We want more real food.
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We → imagine → food
We want healthier proteins, fruits, vegetables, and minimally processed ingredients.
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We → want → proteins
We want fewer products with added sugars and unnecessary additives.
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We → want → sugars
The food industry would have a powerful incentive to respond.
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industry → have → incentive
As demand grows, suppliers can expand production, improve distribution networks, and invest in healthier product offerings.
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suppliers → grow → offerings
Larger purchasing volumes and more predictable demand can also create economies of scale, potentially reducing costs and making nutritious food more affordable.
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food → create → costs
Other institutions could also benefit.
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institutions → benefit → ?
The same foodservice companies supplying hospitals often serve schools, universities, workplaces, and other institutions.
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companies → supply → schools
Improvements in their product offerings and supply chains could help make healthier food more accessible throughout American society.
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food → help → society
Hospitals could improve their patients’ health and help transform the nation’s food system.
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Hospitals → improve → system
With more than 250 hospitals now participating, we’re beginning to demonstrate what health care institutions can accomplish together.
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institutions → participate → what
We recognize that hospitals face real operational challenges.
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hospitals → recognize → challenges
Hospital supply chains are complex, and patients have diverse medical and nutritional needs.
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patients → have → needs
That’s why the Make Hospital Food Healthier Pledge is voluntary and collaborative.
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Pledge → ’ → ?
We are not interested in Washington dictating hospital menus or second-guessing the clinical judgment of physicians and registered dietitians.
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Washington → dictate → physicians
Hospitals must retain the flexibility to meet patients’ individual nutritional requirements, including those who need specialized therapeutic diets or medical nutrition support.
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who → retain → diets
Our goal is to get hospitals across the country to improve the nutritional quality of their meals together.
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hospitals → get → meals
We are grateful for the partnership of the American Hospital Association and the many healthcare systems that have joined this effort.
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that → join → effort
Their leadership demonstrates that change does not always require new mandates, complicated regulations, or additional administrative burdens.
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change → demonstrate → mandates
…and 5 more, not listed.
The Aporia
