Team BC Lower Mainland Impact Report
Report
National Cohorts
Climate Leadership
Health Care Innovation
Procurement
Sustainable Food and Menus
A Journey Continued
When joining Nourish’s Third Anchor Cohort program, Team BC Lower Mainland aspired to increase plant-based options on patient menus, create more coordination and coherence on food for health initiatives, and enhance collaboration across health authorities. The team developed a strategic framework that could offer structure and organization to the many food and planetary health initiatives and opportunities underway – in the present and future. Along with this, the team created tools to communicate the strategy’s vision and focus areas with key audiences – inside and outside team member organizations. The strategy and related tools supported the team to develop meaningful collaborations – between health authorities; between planetary health, food services, and clinical nutrition teams; and, between local food producers, manufacturers, and hospital food service.
“I have learned the value of placing food at the centre of dialogues around wellness, in terms of both wellness of people and the planet. In my two years of experience, food naturally builds connections among a wide variety of people and situations. When we transform food from being the problem to being the solution in a planetary health conversation, people feel enlightened. People can connect to the topic of sustainability through food in a positive way.”
Elaine Chu, Director of Food Service Transformation & Strategic Projects, Fraser Health
Meet Team BC Lower Mainland
Fraser Health is the heart of health care from Burnaby to Boston Bar. Serving more than one in three British Columbians, Fraser Health is focused on improving the health and well-being of over two million people in 20 diverse municipalities across the region.
Providence Health Care is a Catholic health care community dedicated to meeting the physical, emotional, social and spiritual needs of those served through compassionate care, teaching and research. Located in Vancouver, Providence Health Care treats over 600,000 patients annually across 18 health care sites, including St. Paul’s Hospital.
Provincial Health Services Authority works in partnership with BC’s health authorities and health care professionals to improve access to evidence-informed practice closer to where people live and to effectively promote health, manage chronic conditions and reduce the burden of illness. PHSA has a unique role in BC’s health authority system: to ensure that BC residents have access to a coordinated provincial network of high-quality specialized health-care services.
Feed BC is a provincial government partnership initiative led by the Ministry of Agriculture and Food to increase food in hospitals, residential care facilities, public post-secondary institutions, and other government-supported facilities.