HC-One care homes across the UK are marking World Vegetarian Day, as the care provider continues to bolster its meat-free cuisine and credentials.
World Vegetarian Day is an annual event which takes place on October 1. It was established by the North American Vegetarian Society in 1977 and endorsed by the International Vegetarian Union in 1978. World Vegetarian Day aims to bring awareness to the ethical, environmental, health and humanitarian benefits of a vegetarian lifestyle. World Vegetarian Day initiates the start of the month of October as Vegetarian Awareness Month which ends with World Vegan Day on November 1 as the end of the month of celebration.
The number of older vegetarians and particularly vegans continuing to grow as found in a study and research carried out by Vegetarian for Life that found that in the prior five years to 2019, care residents following a vegan diet increased by a remarkable 167 per cent. It is more important than ever to cater to individual’s specific dietary needs and beliefs.
Earlier this year, Group Development Chef, Victoria Meakin, held a Vegan Workshop Day in Manchester with Vegetarian for Life in attendance. 10 colleagues attended the workshop and were handpicked due to having residents living in their homes that are either vegan or vegetarian. The day helped raise awareness around meat free dishes.
HC-One made the decision to sign up to the UK care charity, Vegetarian for Life’s, Memory Care Pledge which helps to ensure that vegetarians or vegans who have capacity issues or cognitive losses will be offered a choice of meals, drinks and snacks that uphold their ethical beliefs to ensure residents can life the rest of their lives the way that they intended.
By providing HC-One residents with dietary preferences a choice of nutritious vegetarian and vegan meals, this helps HC-One to also reduce its environmental impact.
Food waste is a major global issue, with approximately one billion tonnes of food being wasted each year, equating to one-fifth of all food available to consumers. The catering team at HC-One use their creativity and user-centric design of vegetarian and vegan food to add to residents’ quality of life and care, while meeting the nutritional goals for modified diets.
In 2023, HC-One’s Catering and Housekeeping Team won the Beulah Charity Trust Special Recognition Award Category at the Vegetarian for Life 2023 Awards for Excellence in Vegetarian & Vegan Care Catering. The awards celebrate rising stars in vegan and vegetarian care catering.
HC-One’s Catering and Housekeeping Team demonstrated that they make a special effort to create delicious and nutritious vegan and vegetarian meals for those living in HC-One care homes.
Chris Bonner, Executive Chef and Nutrition and Hydration Lead at HC-One, said:
“A key part of my role is to make sure people can make their own life choices and continue to do that upon moving into living in a care home.
“As an individual, I think that the ethos behind Vegetarian for Life’s Memory Care Pledge is brilliant. Residents have very complex needs, and everyone comes from very different backgrounds, levels of wealth, and so on, and we need to find what works for everybody. It’s important for us to make a difference to the lives of residents living in HC-One care homes and help make others aware. The Memory Care Pledge fits in perfectly with that. It’s not just about what nutrition people need, but about what they want to eat.
“We’re spreading the message to our colleagues that vegetarian and veganism are coming. It’s becoming a part of life, and a lot of people are taking it on as a way of life. We’re there to provide a service, not just stay in our own comfort zones. Good food keeps residents healthy, and giving people food they want to eat is going to prevent weight loss and all the problems that come with that.
“If we’re to cater to our residents and to make ourselves attractive to this growing segment of the market, we’re going to have to inform and educate ourselves, and the Memory Care Pledge and the support from Vegetarian for Life is going to continue to play a huge role in that.”