Debate over beef in nursing homes has spiraled out of control – seniors actually prefer more vegetables over more meat

Once again, there has been a major uproar among public commentators and politicians because, through the City of Copenhagen’s food and meal strategy, active efforts are being made to reduce the amount of meat in nursing-home meals, so that older people can also enjoy a healthy, plant-rich diet in accordance with the official dietary guidelines. In Berlingske on 18 October and on social media, much has been made of the fact that some older people are dissatisfied with the amount of beef in meals at nursing homes, and politicians have used words such as “madness” and “heartbreaking” to describe the situation. Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen (Social Democrats) has even criticised the climate and health considerations behind meals in Copenhagen. The outrage, however, is not based on a balanced account of satisfaction with food for older people in Copenhagen. It goes almost without saying that nursing-home food cannot meet all residents’ preferences every single time, but after several years of efforts to promote healthy and more climate-friendly food in the City of Copenhagen’s public kitchens, the overall conclusion of BDO’s “Analysis of the Significance of the Food and Meal Strategy 2020–2025 for Food and Meals for Older People” is: “There is generally a high level of satisfaction with the food among nursing-home residents and people living at home in the City of Copenhagen” and “Specifically, the survey of 200 nursing-home residents and 607 people living at home shows that a majority of approximately 58–60 per cent are satisfied with the food, while 28–33 per cent responded that they are somewhat satisfied with the food. Finally, 8–13 per cent responded that they are only slightly satisfied or not satisfied with the food at all.” That is quite impressive! When asked about older people’s experience of the amounts of different foods in their meals, the majority of respondents say that the amounts are appropriate—between 52 and 82 per cent, depending on the food category. The food category that the largest number of people would like to see more of in their meals is… VEGETABLES! As many as 42 per cent of respondents at nursing homes with on-site kitchens say that too few vegetables are served in the meals, while 23 per cent say that too little meat is served. At nursing homes receiving meals from an external kitchen, the figures are 27 per cent versus 4 per cent, and among people living at home they are 35 per cent versus 12 per cent. Of course, nursing-home residents should be consulted and have an influence on the menus. But before things descend entirely into a frenzy over beef and bashing of lentils, it is worth recalling this wonderful feature and video from the Municipality of Aarhus about how legumes are proving popular in nursing homes when they are prepared deliciously: There are surely many similar good stories about healthy and climate-friendly public meals out there—including at Copenhagen’s nursing homes. Let us bring those stories to light as well, and take a more balanced approach, so that the debate about dietary guidelines and public meals can return to a more factual and less emotional footing. Here is another inspiring example from “over there,” where the situation has been turned on its head. For several years, New York City’s public hospitals have served plant-based food as the standard option, while allowing patients to choose animal-based foods if they wish. Today, more than half of the meals eaten are entirely plant-based, while patients have chosen meat, fish and dairy products for the remaining meals. So far, this has reduced the climate footprint of the meals by more than 30 per cent, and satisfaction with the food is sky-high. The fact is that reducing Danes’ meat consumption would bring major benefits for both public health and the climate. According to calculations by the National Food Institute at the Technical University of Denmark, we could approximately halve the global climate footprint of Danes’ food consumption if we follow the dietary guidelines. This corresponds, roughly speaking, to 10 per cent of Denmark’s total global consumption-based emissions. That would be quite impressive too!