Vancouver Coastal Health - Planetary Health Hospital Menu Revamp
When his wife Kate was recovering from cancer surgery at VGH, the food on her tray was nutritionally poor and deeply uninspiring. Ned asked how he could help, and that question grew into Vancouver Coastal Health's Planetary Health Menu Pilot, bringing his dishes to patients in four hospitals.
The Origin
During the five days Kate spent at Vancouver General Hospital, Ned saw how little the food encouraged her to eat at a time when nourishment truly mattered. He raised it with her surgical oncologist, Dr. Andrea MacNeill, now Regional Medical Director of Planetary Health at Vancouver Coastal Health, and that conversation helped set the project in motion.
The Work
The Planetary Health Menu Pilot was led by Dr. Annie Lalande and Tiffany Chiang of Vancouver Coastal Health. They brought together clinicians, dietitians, food-service staff, planetary health experts and patient partners, with Ned leading the culinary development. The team created more than 20 new menu items using locally sourced ingredients, plant-based proteins and culturally diverse flavours.
Ned worked directly with hospital culinary teams to adapt the recipes for clinical requirements, institutional kitchens and large-scale service. Patients helped evaluate the dishes, and their feedback shaped which meals moved forward. Following the six-month pilot at VGH, selected menu items were introduced at three additional hospitals.
Why It Matters
Hospital food has to meet complex nutritional, clinical, operational and financial requirements. Ned showed how strong culinary thinking could work within those constraints. The project moved his work beyond restaurants and into institutional food systems. It demonstrates his ability to bring chefs, clinicians and administrators together around food that supports patient recovery while reducing environmental impact.
The work received national coverage, including interviews on CBC Radio’s White Coat, Black Art and The Current with Matt Galloway, along with coverage in many other print and broadcast outlets.
Listen in
CBC’s White Coat Black Art - How a chef and a surgeon reinvented hospital meals
