Catering
The vegetarians (and vegans) are coming!
With some care homes failing to respect the dietary and ethical wishes of their vegetarians and vegan residents, Moussa Haddad, head of research and policy for Vegetarian for Life, discusses new research by Swansea University that shows why it is in the care sector’s interests to take vegetarian and vegan diets seriously
The vegetarians are coming (and the vegans, too). That is the message to the care sector coming out of research conducted by Swansea University on behalf of Vegetarian for Life (VfL) – the UK’s leading charity for older vegans and vegetarians. The projections estimate that, within six years, vegetarian care home residents aged 65- plus could exceed 13,000, and 2,400 could be vegan (four per cent and 0.7 per cent of total residents, respectively). But first, a step back. The vegetarians and
vegans are already here, of course. Last year, VfL’s survey of a thousand UK care homes found that there are now over 8,000 vegan and vegetarian care home residents, a 24 per cent increase in a decade. Nearly one in three care homes (31.8 per cent) now cater to at least one vegan or vegetarian resident. Our research shows that the trend is only going in one direction. They are here, and they are not always being treated as they should. Dr Ann Moulds’ mother, vegetarian for 70 years, was diagnosed with dementia in September 2023 at the age of 91, while living in a care home.
“Her beliefs are as strong today as they
were then,” says Ann. “Even the thought of eating meat turned her stomach. Mum was very careful about her diet, ensuring it was balanced and nourishing. She also wouldn’t even eat any sweets or foodstuffs that contained animal by-products such as gelatine.” Following a fall, she suffered a broken hip. Her family noticed that she was losing weight and starting to turn away from food. Ann says her sister asked to see her mother’s food chart, but she found this difficult to obtain. When she eventually saw
June 2025
www.thecarehomeenvironment.com
a copy, Ann says, the family were shocked to discover the care home had been feeding their mother meat and fish. “Obviously, we were very angry and
raised it with the care home,” Ann says. “The reply was ‘mum was asking for meat and fish’. In other words, my mother was to carry the blame. My mother has never asked for meat and fish in over 70 years.” Ann says that when her mother did refuse meat, the care home did not provide a satisfactory and nourishing alternative. “Sometimes she was left with nothing to eat,” says Ann, “and the default optional choice if she didn’t take the main course was dry cheese sandwiches. Or cheese sandwiches and chips, or pizza and chips. Sometimes she had cheese sandwiches for her lunch and her evening meal two to three days in a row.” Ann adds that for three days of the
week the care home offered no vegetarian option for the evening meal. “We have two issues being addressed here – the first is the feeding of mum meat and fish, and the second is the lack of choice of highly nutritious and balanced vegetarian food being offered to mum.” Ann says the care home completely
ignored the family’s concerns or requests. “It is not they got it wrong,” she says. “They have blatantly ignored it. We are blue in the face saying mum is a strict vegetarian. Mum already had a sensitive digestive system. Feeding her animal protein after all these
Nearly one in three homes now cater to at least one vegan or vegetarian resident
years of eating plant-based protein was detrimental to her system.” Throughout, Ann says, the family felt the care home had disregarded their mother’s philosophical and ethical commitment to vegetarianism. “She does not ‘have a preference’ for vegetarian food; she is a vegetarian full stop,” Ann says, “and she wants a vegetarian diet. What part of this don’t they get? It is not exactly rocket science. It is a prime example of their complete and utter disrespect for mum, her family, the role of the Power of Attorney, and towards vegetarians in general.”
Basic failings Sadly, Ann’s mother’s example is not an isolated one. In 2021, the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Vegetarianism and Veganism published the results of its inquiry into respect for religious and philosophical beliefs while eating in care. It found a range of basic failings in care homes when it comes to catering for such diets. These ranged from total disregard for dietary preferences; to apparent misunderstandings of the fundaments of different diets (for example, vegetarians
39
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46
