E/The Environment
Magazine
GREEN LIVING: EATING RIGHT
Yum, Yum…Hospital Food
The Institutional Menu Undergoes a Green Revolution
By Jean Johnson
Perhaps nowhere has the devolution of the Standard American Diet (SAD), been as
prominent as in hospitals. During the post-World War II era, when
state-of-the-art medications like the polio vaccine and antibiotics held sway
and food was less understood as the good medicine it is, society seemed more
willing to pass off lousy hospital fare with a few jokes. Fast forward a half
century, however, and the appetite for change that arose in the 1960s is finally driving change in the health care industry.
|
|
|
© Digital Vision |
Good Shepherd, Good Food
The
49-bed
“Our
agreement with local growers of vegetables and fruits is, ‘Whatever you have,
bring it in,’” Gummer says. “We go with what’s in season—the more organic the
better—and we get creative. People need to learn that real food will bring them
health, so that’s why in 2004 we started using fresh vegetables and fruits and
more recently in 2006 have been making more of our foods from scratch.”
According
to Gummer, taking orders from patients when they are hungry instead of dishing
up meals on preset schedules was the first link in the chain to moving toward
better hospital food. Initially, however, the shift has been more about
marketing than getting reasonable food to patients, since hospitals across the
nation saw their patient approval scores go up when they allowed patients to
order when they were hungry. “We went to room service a few years ago like so
many places are doing,” Gummer explains. “But most places are still basically
just reheating at that point.”
Gummer
points out that revolutionizing hospital food is easier in a small place like
Good Shepherd than it is in larger institutions. But that isn’t stopping Kaiser
Permanente. In northern
Hospital
Diet without Harm
The
west coast is not alone, although the greening of hospital food is clearly a
developing trend.
“We
don’t believe health care is purposely trying to pollute or make people sick,”
Harvie says. “So we help explain how our food is produced and distributed. Most
hospitals don’t realize the power they have through their purchasing, and how
they really can impact the market. That’s why we created the Healthy Food in
Health Care Pledge. To help interested hospitals begin conservations with
growers and distributors.”
|
|
|
© Digital Vision |
“We
did talk to an egg vendor who should be able to supply us from free-range
hens,” Imrie adds, “and there is a farm within walking distance of the hospital
that delivers weekly. Also we are in the planning stages for a healing garden
that will grow organic greens and herbs. On the other hand, this fall we had
planned to buy only local apples, but apparently we’ve had the worst apple
season in years.”
St.
Luke’s Hospital in
Tomcyzk
also points out that there are inherent obstacles to improving the menu on the
institutional level. “It’s easier to bring in organic fruits and vegetables and
milk on the retail side of food service—where staff and visitors eat—because
prices can be adjusted to compensate for the added expense. With patient food,
you have a set number that is built in as a hospital function. Here it’s less
than around $2 per tray.”
Still,
Tomcyzk says patients can order off the retail menu. “If a patient comes in and
says, ‘I only eat organic,’ we will accommodate up to a certain limit. It’s
just like when patients want kosher food. We do what we can.”
Seeing
the food hospitals serve staff and visitors take a turn toward regional
distinctiveness and sustainability is one thing. That patients are poised to
access this nutritious fare is definitely a hopeful sign.
JEAN
JOHNSON is a freelance writer in
|
|
Did you enjoy this article? Subscribe to
E/The Environmental Magazine!
CONTACTS
Health Care Without
Harm
Phone: (703) 243-0056