Patrick Burrichter did not think about saving lives or protecting the planet when he trained as a chef in a hotel kitchen. But 25 years later he has focused his culinary skills on doing exactly that.
From an industrial park on the outskirts of Berlin, Burrichter and his team cook for a dozen hospitals that offer patients a “planetary health” diet – one that is rich in plants and light in animals. Compared with the typical diet in Germany, known for its bratwurst sausage and doner kebab, the 13,000 meals they rustle up each day are better for the health of people and the planet.
“I’ve been a cook my whole life and have run many kitchens,” says Burrichter. “Now I want to do something sustainable.”
Getting people in rich countries to eat less meat is one of the hardest tasks in the shift to a cleaner economy. In Burrichter’s kitchen, the steaming vats of coconut milk dal and semolina dumpling stew need to be more than just cheap and healthy – they must taste so good that people ditch dietary habits built up over decades.
The biggest challenge, says Burrichter, is replacing the meat in a traditional dish. “The bite is the most important, and the flavour comes after that.”
Moderate amounts of meat can form part of a healthy diet, providing protein and key nutrients, but the average German eats twice as much as doctors advise – and many times more than the climate can handle. The meat and dairy industry pumps out 12% to 20% of the pollutants baking the planet and making weather more violent.
Unlike in the US, where the amount of meat eaten per person keeps rising, or the UK, where it is declining slowly, in Germany efforts to cut consumption have picked up pace. The proportion of people who eat meat every day fell from 34% in 2015 to 20% in 2023, according to a survey from the German agriculture ministry. Driven more by the dangers to their health than to the climate, close to half of respondents said they were trying to eat less meat.
In the leafy Berlin suburb of Zehlendorf, where Burrichter’s meals land on the plates of patients at Waldfriede hospital, staff say few people complained when they swapped to a planetary health menu. “The fact it was so uncomplicated came as a surprise to us,” says the hospital director, Bernd Quoß.
Patients on the wards of Waldfriede praise the choice of meals on offer. Martina Hermann, 75, says she has been inspired to cook more vegetables when she gets home. “When meals are seasoned well, I don’t miss meat at all,” she says.
Elke Steuber, 72, says she had already cut down on meat because of rheumatoid arthritis, and is happy to have discovered dishes such as dal. “I know curries but this was new to me and it tasted great,” she says.
Followers of the planetary health diet need not abandon animal products altogether. The guidelines, which were proposed by 37 experts from the EAT-Lancet Commission in 2019, translate to eating meat once a week and fish twice a week, along with more wholegrains, nuts and legumes.