HC-One marks World Vegetarian Day

A major UK Care provider is marking World Vegetarian Day, as it continues to bolster its meat-free cuisine and credentials.

HC One is celebrating World Vegetarian Day, an annual event that takes place on October 1^st. First established by the North American Vegetarian Society in 1977, it was later endorsed by the International Vegetarian Union in 1978. Its aim is to highlight the ethical, environmental, health and humanitarian benefits of a vegetarian lifestyle and it kicks of the start of Vegetarian Awareness Month at the beginning of October and ends with World Vegan Day on November 1^st.

With the increasing numbers of vegetarians and vegans who are now entering residential care, HC-One is very aware that it is becoming more important than ever to cater to an individual’s specific dietary needs and beliefs. This is evidenced by the fact that in the five years before 2019, the number of care residents following a vegan diet increased by a staggering 167%!

Accordingly, HC One’s group development chef, Victoria Meakin, hosted a day-long Vegan Workshop in Manchester with the UK care charity, Vegetarian for Life, which was designed to help 10 HC-One colleagues, all of whom work in care homes with vegetarian or vegan residents, to learn more about plant-based meals.

HC-One made the decision to sign up to 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 that they can life the rest of their lives the way that they intended.

In fact, HC-One’s catering and housekeeping team has already demonstrated that it makes a special effort to create delicious and nutritious vegan and vegetarian meals. In 2023, the team won the Beulah Charity Trust Special Recognition Award Category at the Vegetarian for Life 2023 Awards for Excellence in Vegetarian & Vegan Care Caterin, which celebrates the rising stars in vegan and vegetarian care catering.

Chris Bonner, executive chef and nutrition and hydration lead at HC-One, explains: “A key part of my role is to make sure people can make their own life choices and continue to do that when they move into a care home.

 “As an individual, I think that the ethos behind Vegetarian for Life’s Memory Care Pledge is brilliant. Residents come from very different backgrounds and often have very complex needs too, so we need to find what works for everybody. The Memory Care Pledge fits in perfectly with that. It’s not just about the nutrition that people need; it’s equally important to serve food that they want to eat if we want to help them remain fit and healthy and prevent weight loss and all the problems that come with that. 

 So,iIf we’re to properly cater to our residents and make ourselves attractive to this growing market segment, the onus is on us to inform and educate ourselves and the Memory Care Pledge and the support from Vegetarian for Life will continue to play a huge role in this process.”

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