Commons Membership
Join the movement to leverage the power of food in health care with Nourish.
June 2026
The NourishCommonsis Nourish’s new national membership network for food for health leaders. We’re on a mission to change the way food is served in health care settings and to show the power of food as medicine. The Nourish Commons enables this mission by providing an online gathering space for our network where we can gather together for shared learning, connection, and action.
Read on to learn why you should join the national membership community for collective learning, collective impact, and collective leverage focused on the power of food for health and well-being.
Whyjoin?
Ourfoodandhealthsystemsareincrisis.
Yourcommunities,patients,andteamscan’twait.
50%offoodservedtopatientsinCanadianhospitalsiswasted.
ZerooftheTRC’sHealthCallstoActionhavebeencompleted.
1in5adultslivewithchronicdiet-relateddiseaseslikeheart disease,cancer,anddiabetes.
Malnutritionisresultinginlongerhospitalstaysoftwotothree days,costingCanada’shealthsystem$2billionmoreannually.
Through collective learning and action, we’ll advance patient outcomes, cost savings, waste reduction, and leadership, and tackle the inequities that are holding our systems in place.
Nourishyouradvantage: Coolfoodhospitalsaremakingadifferenceby shiftingmenus. In 2025 Nourish recorded 652.04 tCO2e in food-related Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emission reductions from Coolfood member hospitals. FoodisOurMedicinegraduatesareshifting understandings of the cultural importance of food.
Graduates are operationalizing Truth and Reconciliation, creating culturally meaningful menus and building relationships with Indigenous communities, patients, and food vendors.
Nourish’sThirdAnchorCohort(2023-25)are leadingtheway,influencing$20Millioninspending on 281 million meals.
Organizations are benefitting from Nourish’s work with decreasedfoodwaste,morelocalfood,and moreeffectivecollaboration.
CheckoutNourish’s2025AnnualReport
MembershipTiers
Choose the membership option that’s right for you and what you want to accomplish.
OrganizationMembership
Join as an organization or work team. A paid membership tier designed for hospitals and health facilities serious about achieving thier strategic goals and maximizing their food for health outcomes.
IndividualProfessionalMembership
Join as an individual professional. A paid membership tier designed for individuals taking bold steps in their food for health leadership and professional development who may not have the backing of an organization.
NetworkMembership
Join as an individual network member. An open-access membership tier designed for individuals seeking a community of changemakers, a way to stay informed, and the flexibility to build their own food for health learning journey.
Benefits
Think of your Nourish Commons membership like a CSA box for your goals. You receive regular, ongoing access to resources, tools, learning opportunities, invitations, and expertise that will fuel your objectives. And, just by becoming a member, you’re investing in a movement bigger than yourself, helping to create the conditions that make system-level food for health system transformation possible.
AlignyourEfforts:Match your goals and bolster your commitments with the resources, tools, connections, and expertise to achieve them.
BuildyourCapacity:Gain tools, resources, live learnings, and knowledge to further your goals and capabilities.
NetworkforImpact:Access leaders from coast to coast working on similar challenges, with similar goals. Go further, faster, with the support of your peers.
A Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) box is a subscription to locally grown, seasonal fruits and vegetables. What you receive is in tune with the seasons, tasty, and nutrient dense. You get to try new flavours, build community, and support your local ecosystem. What farmers are to your CSA box, Nourish is to your Commons membership!
LearnmoreaboutNourish’sinnovativesuiteofprograms,learning opportunities,convenings,andexpertisebelow.
100MillionBetterBites
A national campaign to create 100 million improvements in the meals served by health care by 2030.
Coolfood
A global initiative supporting food services to achieve the goal of a 25% reduction in food-related greenhouse gases by 2030.
FoodIsOurMedicine
Guiding learners on the importance of culturally mindful food choices and Indigenous foodways in health care.
Self-GuidedCourses& AnimatedLearningJourneys
A suite of offerings to deepen your understanding of food as a lever for health and well-being.
FoodforHealthTools&Resources
Early and members-only access to a library of resources and tools that builds on our public-facing Knowledge Hub.
WorkingGroups&CommunitiesofPractice
Learn and act with the knowledge and support of colleagues with diverse, practical experience and similar goals.
Pricing
Nourish Commons OrganizationMembership is renewed annually. Membership includes five seats, designed to enable your organization to have a multi-functional team together on the Commons. Organizations can purchase additional seats.
With membership, one Coolfood climate report for one site is included. Additional reports are available for a fee.
OrganizationalPricing
Nourish Commons Annual Membership (5 seats)
Additional Seats (per seat) - same organization
Additional Climate Reports (per site)
$2,500
$250
$500
IndividualProfessionalMembership in the Nourish Commons is renewed annually. You’ll gain access to our one-stop shop for all things Nourish, including full access to Nourish working groups, self-guided course catalogue, communities of practice, live webinars, and all of our guides and toolkits. Individual Professional Membership is ideal for someone who wants many of the benefits of organization membership, and is without the backing of an organization.
IndividualProfessionalPricing
Nourish Commons Annual Membership $250
NetworkMembershipis open-access, offered at no cost. Joining the Commons as a Network Member gives you access to our foundational resource library, network-level discussions, and our food for health community. You’ll gain access to a menu of offerings from which you can build your own food for health journey.
Testimonials
“If we can find a way to provide better, more delicious, and more climate conscious food to our patients – we need to act on it. Being an early adopter to CoolFood enabled us to leverage the crucial patient and planet focused menu updates required for Hamilton Health Sciences to become a resilient, inclusive, and future ready healthcare provider.”
Victoria Brzozowski, Environmental Performance Strategy and Program Lead, Hamilton Health Sciences
“As an Indigenous person, this experience has helped me reconnect with my culture through teachings and knowledge that I will carry into my personal and professional life. Before Nourish, I never considered food to be medicine, even though I turned to the land for ingredients that our ancestors used to cure common ailments. Nourish offered numerous opportunities for learning and self-reflection, particularly during our time together at Wasan. I now recognize that my lived experiences are valid and can play a meaningful role in driving systems change.”
onal Food Animator - Labrador, Food First NL (Nourish Cohort 3)
Nourish is transforming health care food systems through sustainable procurement, low-carbon menus, Indigenous foodways, cultural comfort, and programming that accelerates change.
JointheMovement.
Put your money where other people’s mouths are.
Don’t get left behind. Become a founding member of the Nourish Commons and create 100 Million Better Bites. Let’s build what we know is possible, together!
FAQs
Readytojoin!What’smynextstep?
Welcome! For Organization Membership, please complete our Intake Form and we’ll get in touch. To become an Individual Professional or Network Member, please head to the Commons to sign up.
Whyaretheredifferentmembershiptiers?
We recognize that different people and organizations are at different places in their food for health journeys. If your organization isn't ready for membership, the Individual Professional tier offers a way to access many of the benefits.
WhatistheReturnonInvestment?
The more time and staff capacity your organization can allocate to participation in Nourish activities, the greater will be your return on investment. Nourish has a powerful, credible track record of enabling health care leaders and organizations to leverage food for improved patient outcomes, enhanced climate action, greater innovation and community engagement, and stronger relationships with community and food system partners that translate into better outcomes on the ground. See our latest Annual Report to learn more.
Wearebusy!Howmuchtimewilldoesmembershiprequire?
We get it. Change requires time and energy. At the same time, addressing the root causes of diet-related disease, malnutrition, and climate change is how you will accelerate your work and shift into less-resource intensive patterns. Commons membership is your access key to all of Nourish’s work: what you choose to participate in (and when) is at your discretion. This will also vary depending on the programs in which you choose to participate. You can flex based on your capacity.
IstherealimittohowmanyadditionalseatsIcanpurchasewithanorganizationmembership?
There is no limit to the number of additional seats an organization can purchase for its own staff. For umbrella organizations (health authorities, departments, etc.) interested in membership for multiple sites or facilities, we recommend that you support those sites to purchase their own organization memberships. This supports site-level learning and action for frontline, place-based teams. Please contact us if you have any questions.
HowdoIallocatemyorganization’sseats?
Each organizational membership comes with five seats. This is each organization’s opportunity to build a cross-functional team united by the power of food. We recommend including food services staff, a clinical team member (Dietitian or clinician), and one executive or other senior leader. Other team members that are likely to benefit from Commons membership include staff working in the following areas: environmental and sustainability initiatives, Truth and Reconciliation, procurement, and continuous improvement & evaluation.
MyorganizationisalreadyaCoolfoodmember.Whathappenstous?
Commons Organization Membership includes the opportunity to sign the Coolfood Pledge and receive an annual climate report on food spend to track GHG reductions from menu changes. With the launch of the Nourish Commons, Nourish no longer offers Coolfood as a standalone program. Current Coolfood members are invited to transition to Commons Organization Membership at their next renewal period, gaining access to all Nourish programs and services, including courses and the full suite of 100 Million Better Bites programming.
Whatis100MillionBetterBites?
CanmyorganizationbecomeaCommonsmemberwithoutjoining100MillionBetterBites?
Yes. However, Nourish recommends that all organization members join 100 Million Better Bites to benefit from the full suite of Nourish programming.
100 Million Better Bites is the name of Nourish’s national strategic agenda to 2030. The goal is to create 100 million improvements in the meals served by health care by 2030. A “better bite” reflects progress toward meals that are lower-carbon, local, nourishing, culturally mindful, and sustainably produced. To achieve this, Nourish is inviting all Commons organization members to join the 100 Million Better Bites movement for change - a program of learning opportunities, tools, technical expertise, grants, and more. This is an opportunity for national impact on health care food, made through collective action, on a shared goal. Learn more on the Nourish website. Wehavesomequestions.Whocanwetalkto?
Contact Nourish at info@nourishleadership.ca or click here to book a conversation directly.
