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Catering


being served fish); to vegetarian or vegan residents being served repetitive, bland and nutritionally unbalanced meals. One reason we asked Swansea University to do this research is that we wanted to help the care sector understand that it is in their business interests to take vegetarian and vegan diets seriously. Already, the proportion of UK care homes with at least one vegetarian resident has increased from 22.7 per cent to 31.8 per cent in a decade, but this still leaves some room for complacency. That said, many care homes understand intuitively what our projections have demonstrated.


Chris Bonner is executive chef and nutrition and hydration lead at care provider HC-One:


“We’re spreading the message to our staff that veganism is 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.” Catering for diverse dietary needs is fundamentally a question of dignity, autonomy, and respect. It aligns perfectly with the person-centred care agenda. As Chris Bonner puts it, a key part of his role is to “make sure people are supported to make their own life choices and continue to do that.”


The Swansea research suggests that the


prevalence of vegetarian and vegan diets is likely to increase across the UK over the next ten years. With that should come greater acceptance, and a normalisation among the general population. As the researchers put it: ‘according to research conducted across numerous other European nations, plant-based diets gain acceptance and an increased likelihood of adoption with greater awareness and knowledge among the general public’. In turn, a ‘snowball effect’ suggests that ‘vegan and vegetarian diets are becoming more normalised in society as their prevalence continues to rise, which will likely contribute to the predicted growth in prevalence over the next ten years’.


Our mission How do we see it at VfL? Our mission starts with the older vegans and vegetarians we exist to support, along with their friends and families. Even as numbers continue to rise, vegans and vegetarians are likely to remain


40


Dr Shane Heffernan, The OMNIPLaNT Study, Swansea University: “VfL has collected some evidence that


older vegans and vegetarians are at times being treated poorly in the care sector. Regardless of age or cognitive capacity, their philosophical beliefs, in the form of dietary choices, should be respected and if this is not the case we should be concerned as a society. The work we did on behalf of VfL points towards an increasing prevalence of plant-based residents in the care sector, but more efforts are needed to accommodate and prepare, both directly by care home chief executives and by government representatives. More robust research is needed on this topic, but the efforts of VfL to date are important steps forward.”


a minority for the foreseeable future, dispersed fairly evenly across the UK. With only four fully vegetarian care homes in the UK, located where there is a concentration of particular cultural communities, our focus remains on improving the standard of vegan and vegetarian catering in existing homes. There are strong regulations mandating respect for special diets in care homes, but we understand that the care sector faces a lot of competing demands, and so we focus on providing services and support that help them cater well to their vegan and vegetarian residents. We hope that this research will help send out that message that dietary diversity is here to stay. VfL maintains a UK List of the 1 in 6 care establishments that have undertaken to abide by our Code of Good Practice in order to provide ethical catering for older vegetarians. In addition, almost 500 care homes have chosen to become Accredited UK List members, demonstrating that they see meat-free as a priority and have committed to going the extra mile for vegans and vegetarians in their care. Angie Rahmani, vegetarian since birth and more recently vegan, is recruitment manager and director at Sunshine Care, one of those Accredited members: “When I saw this charity and what


they’re doing I just thought, what an amazing thing. For myself, if I’m going to book a restaurant or a hotel, it’s probably the first thing I check: am I going to be able to eat? So, if I was looking for a care home, it would be right up there with their CQC rating and their care skills, it’s in the same level of importance. “I would just like everybody to be treated


how I would treat my own family. There is always somebody there that’s going to give you love, give you care and give you what you deserve. Whatever it is, we make that happen, whether it is having just your dietary requests listened to or whether it’s anything else. Everything about the person is really important to us.”


Practical support To help with practical support, our team of roving chefs offer online and in-person training, and we produce a range of practical resources. Our philosophy is based upon empowering care homes to do their best by older vegans and vegetarians. Alex Connell is one of the roving chefs: “While care homes can sometimes find the idea of vegetarian or vegan catering


www.thecarehomeenvironment.com June 2025


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