Hospital Meals Get a Sustainable Makeover

ATLANTA, GA – January 12, 2026 – Morrison Healthcare, a provider of more than one million meals daily to hospitals across the nation, has been recognized by Modern Healthcare as a 'Best in Business' award winner for its comprehensive sustainability initiatives. The award highlights a growing movement within the healthcare industry to extend the mission of healing beyond patient care to encompass the health of the planet itself.

Modern Healthcare's prestigious award celebrates companies that are driving innovation and efficiency. "We are proud to honor this year’s recipients of Modern Healthcare’s Best in Business Award,” said Dan Peres, President of Modern Healthcare. “These organizations demonstrate the progress, creativity, and excellence that help move healthcare forward."

For Morrison Healthcare, this recognition is the culmination of a multi-pronged strategy that redefines the role of food service in a clinical setting. "We are building a sustainable future for all, and we are deeply honored to receive this recognition," said Avi Pinto, Chief Executive Officer of Morrison Healthcare. “Through culinary creativity and close collaboration with our hospital partners, we are focused on delivering dining experiences that are both healthier for people and more sustainable for our planet.”

A Menu for a Cooler Planet

At the heart of Morrison Healthcare's strategy is a radical reimagining of the hospital menu. The company has made a significant shift towards plant-forward dining, a culinary approach that emphasizes plant-based ingredients without necessarily eliminating meat entirely. A remarkable 60% of the company’s extensive recipe database is now classified as plant-forward, with a third of those recipes being fully vegan.

This culinary pivot is a key component of the company's commitment to achieving Climate Net Zero by 2050, a goal set by its parent company, Compass Group. The group's targets, which include a 46% reduction in direct emissions and a 28% reduction in emissions from its food and drink supply chain by 2030, have been validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).

To translate these ambitious goals into action, Morrison equips its chefs with sophisticated tools. Using proprietary nutrition software integrated with carbon data from partners like Planet FWD, chefs can filter recipes by their carbon footprint. This data-driven approach has resulted in over half (53%) of the company’s evaluated recipes being classified as low-emission. The focus is not just on offering sustainable options, but on making them the delicious and appealing choice for patients and staff.

From Kitchen to Landfill: Tackling Food Waste with Data

Beyond menu engineering, Morrison Healthcare is waging a data-driven war on food waste, a major source of both financial loss and greenhouse gas emissions. Two key programs anchor this effort: the "Rule of 5" and the "Waste Not 2.0" digital platform.

The "Rule of 5" is a deceptively simple but powerful operational mandate: every ingredient purchased must be planned for use in at least five different dishes. This policy forces culinary teams to think creatively about cross-utilization, maximizing inventory, reducing spoilage, and controlling costs. It also encourages the use of local, seasonal produce, which can be fully leveraged across multiple menu items while it's at peak freshness.

Complementing this preventative measure is "Waste Not 2.0," a cloud-based tracking system that gives kitchen staff a real-time view of what is being thrown away and why. Using tablets, staff categorize waste as either "green" (unavoidable scraps like peels and rinds) or "red" (avoidable waste from overproduction or spoilage). The data is fed into dashboards that allow managers to pinpoint inefficiencies in forecasting, purchasing, and production.

The results have been striking. Hospitals implementing the program have reported food waste reductions of up to 50%. At Ohio Health, the system contributed to a 27% decrease in food waste and approximately $231,000 in food cost savings over an 18-month period. Similarly, Roper St. Francis Healthcare in South Carolina cut its avoidable food waste by 45%. The program is now active in approximately 370 hospitals, turning kitchens into hubs of efficiency and environmental stewardship.

Empowering Choices for a Healthier Plate

Morrison’s sustainability efforts extend to the point of service, empowering patients and hospital staff to become active participants. By embedding ingredient-level emissions data into its menus, the company makes climate labeling available, allowing individuals to see the environmental impact of their food choices.

This initiative taps into a well-documented trend. Research shows that climate labels can effectively nudge consumers toward more sustainable options, with some studies indicating that labels highlighting "high climate impact" can increase the selection of non-beef dishes by over 20%. In a real-world example, after NYC Health + Hospitals made plant-based meals the default for inpatients, it saw a 36% reduction in its food-related carbon footprint, with nearly 60% of patients choosing the plant-based option even when a meat alternative was available.

This focus on transparency and choice aligns with the core mission of healthcare. "Our focus as healthcare leaders should be on the programs and solutions that drive sustainable practices throughout our business," said Lisa Roberson, National Director of Population Health and Sustainability, Morrison Healthcare. "This recognition highlights the efforts our teams make to bring our sustainability pillars to life... advancing the health of people and the planet.”

Setting a New Standard in Healthcare

While Morrison Healthcare's award is a significant milestone, it also reflects a broader transformation across the entire contract foodservice industry. Competitors like Sodexo and Aramark have also set ambitious, science-based targets for carbon reduction and are heavily investing in plant-forward menus and waste-tracking technologies. This collective action signals a fundamental shift, positioning sustainability not as a corporate add-on, but as a core business imperative.

The healthcare sector, in particular, is recognizing the undeniable link between environmental health and human health. By greening their supply chains, reducing waste, and promoting climate-friendly diets, these companies are doing more than just improving their bottom line. They are actively contributing to a healthier environment, which in turn reduces the burden of pollution-related illness and supports the well-being of the communities their hospital partners serve. Morrison Healthcare's award-winning program demonstrates a replicable and impactful model for how the journey to a healthier patient can begin with a healthier planet.