Eight Insights for 2025
Report
Nourish
Health Care Innovation
2024 Annual Report: Achieving Planetary Health Through Food
Nourish invites you to explore our 2024 Annual Report focused on eight insights for 2025 on shaping the future of food in health care. We continue to build and learn from our third national cohort, supporting hospitals to redesign menus and rethink food sourcing to impact human and planetary health. Nourish is leading the conversation about how food is medicine in health care for Indigenous communities, supporting the cultural dimensions of well-being and grounded in sustainability.
We centre our work around the ways that food nourishes us, connects us, and holds the power to heal – not only patients, but entire communities and the planet we share. Our healthcare system is stretched to its limits, but food is a solution hiding in plain sight that addresses root causes. Food is medicine for those in recovery, a tool to prevent and to manage chronic diseases, and a bridge to cultural belonging. Rooted in equity and sustainability, good food is an upstream driver of health and a lever for climate action.
Together, we can reimagine health care food systems to nourish people, communities, and the planet.
These eight insights outline some of the leading edges of our work and strategies for driving meaningful change.
This Insights Report outlines what Nourish and its partners know to be true: food is a lever for meaningful change – advancing climate goals, Truth and Reconciliation, health equity, and patient care.
The role of food in health care is no longer if but how.
Health care systems across Canada are under immense pressure, and todayʼs decisions will shape their future resilience. Food must be seen as a strategic priority, not an afterthought.
Solutions exist: evidence-based tools like the Coolfood Pledge, value-based procurement frameworks, and Nourishʼs upcoming workshops to bring together stakeholders around food is medicine aiming to unify fragmented efforts into cohesive action.
At Nourish, weʼre not just asking questions; weʼre finding pathways.
Achieving our vision requires systems leadership and multi-stakeholder action. Food must become a cornerstone of health and sustainability in every healthcare institution.
Now is the time to align priorities and harness the synergies of climate, health and the quality of care through food. The future of regenerative food and health systems is taking shape – will you join us in making it happen?