“Ecological Nutrition: Redefining healthy food in health care”
(GradFest introduction by David Winickoff)
Within the healthy food in health care movement, new coalitions of hospitals, health professionals, and related non-profit organizations are leveraging scientific data on health and environmental externalities associated with the modern, industrial food system to problematize the dominant system and to legitimize and inspire alternative food system models. They are shifting definitions of food-related health from a nutritionism model – eating the right balance of nutrients and food groups, to an ecological nutrition model – examining the health impacts of social, economic, and environmental factors related to the agrifood system. An ecological nutrition approach brings into view the health implications of agricultural policies, practices, and technologies; food processing and distribution networks; and the food environments that constrain and enable food access and choice. As a result, actors are standing behind conceptualizations of ‘healthy food’ that align with alternative food movement ideals and are putting this vision into action through a proliferation of new food procurement initiatives in hospitals across the country. This shift is particularly significant within the health care sector, as it is both a powerful cultural node for defining health and disease and a powerful economic node, spending billions annually in the food and beverage sector.