Vegan slams patient meals at Rotorua Hospital, New Zealand

A young vegan has criticized the “abysmal” and “unnutritious” hospital food during her week-long stay.

Rebecca Walker, 23, was airlifted to Rotorua hospital earlier this month after breaking her ankle while walking around the Te Araroa trail in New Zealand’s North Island.

During her hospital stay, she asked friends to drop off food because most of the meals were non-vegan or didn’t contain protein.

Meals included Weet-bix and no milk, chickpeas covered in cheese, stir-fry vegetables with rice, and a sad salad sandwich with a slice of tomato, a slice of cucumber, and a few green leaves on thinly buttered bread.

Dinner one night consisted of three apples and a juice box.

Many meals offered were non-vegan, including cow’s milk, yoghurt, cheese, porridge and jelly, despite Ms Walker’s repeated reminders to staff about her dietary requirements.

“I’m hungry and frustrated,” Ms Walker told the paper Rotorua daily mail.

The morning after she was given non-vegan jelly for lunch, she was offered cow’s milk and yogurt again, despite assurances from staff that they would do better.

“All I asked for breakfast was soy milk as an option, or a dairy-free alternative,” she said.

Ms Walker said the ordeal made her feel like a ‘burden’.

She spoke out about the ordeal as part of calls for better public education about vegan eating and the differences between gluten-free and vegetarian.

‘I just understand that [as] as part of recovery you need balanced meals. And plates that are a huge share [of] carbs and not so many other things are probably not the best options for people to get well,” said Ms. Walker.

Rotorua Hospital serves 15,000 hospital meals a month, which the Te Whatu Ora Lakes Health Department says must meet national nutritional standards.

Acting interim chief Gary Lees said the health department was doing its best to serve nutritious meals and the food provider met with a hospital nutritionist monthly to ensure patients’ nutritional needs were met.

He added that 20 dietary requirements are met, including vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, low-fat, halal and Hindu.

“When we receive complaints, our ward staff, dietitians and catering staff are available to speak directly to the patient to resolve any concerns,” a statement to Daily Mail Australia said.

“Our meals are prepared on site with fresh ingredients rather than cooked meals using microwaves.”

Mr Lees added that patient surveys on meals were collected daily and this month’s results showed overall satisfaction for ‘met’ or ‘exceeded expectations’ was 98 per cent, with 74 per cent being ‘exceeded expectations’.

The health department did not respond to further questions from Daily Mail Australia about Ms Walker’s experience and whether vegan meal options would be improved.