Is there a right to vegan meals when hospitalized? This question will be decided on Thursday at the court in Hillerød. Are rice, root vegetables, and iceberg lettuce a sufficiently nutritious meal when hospitalized as a vegan? No, according to the Danish Vegetarian Association, which has sued the Capital Region in a case that, according to the association, is about discrimination if one cannot get vegan meals when hospitalized. The court in Hillerød will deliver its verdict on Thursday in a case that the Danish Vegetarian Association considers to be of principle importance. The association’s general secretary, Rune-Christoffer Dragsdahl, believes there should be an option for plant-based meals in all public kitchens. “If we win, it can have a significant impact,” he says.
The specific case revolves around a woman who was hospitalized at Hvidovre Hospital, which belongs to the Capital Region, for one day during her pregnancy in 2020 and then for three days during childbirth. The woman is employed by the Danish Vegetarian Association and follows a vegan lifestyle. Meaning, she only consumes plant-based food and does not eat meat, fish, or dairy products. However, she felt that the food she was offered was not nutritious enough. The vegan option at the hospital was essentially side dishes to other meals, for example, rice and root vegetables. “The hospital was unable to provide a truly vegan meal. Meanwhile, they had 14 meat dishes on the menu,” the general secretary explains.
The Capital Region has previously stated that a vegan alternative is available at all of the region’s hospitals. The specifics of the vegan offering for patients vary between hospitals today. For example, in the Central Denmark Region, vegan meals are not part of the standard selection in hospitals due to nutritional considerations, although patients can request plant-based food. The Zealand Region indicates that vegan food is offered at all hospitals during hospitalization. In the Southern Denmark Region, there are special vegan dishes available at Sønderjylland Hospital. However, at Aalborg University Hospital in the Northern Denmark Region, a vegan menu was discontinued in December 2023 as part of cost-saving measures.
The general secretary rejects the notion that it is reasonable, from an economic perspective for example, for vegans to eat what they can at the hospital and then supplement with outside food. “There are limits to how much food one can bring from home,” says Rune-Christoffer Dragsdahl. “Moreover, promoting plant-based food is an excellent idea for preventing diseases. Vegan diet has a low saturated fat content, which poses a risk for many of the lifestyle diseases prevalent in Denmark,” he adds.
The Danish Vegetarian Association has demanded compensation of 25,000 Danish kroner for the woman. In another case, the association, on behalf of a family, succeeded in arguing that a girl’s human rights were violated when she could not receive a vegan meal at her kindergarten in Jammerbugt Municipality.