Organic, Healthy Hospital Food
by Kyeann Sayer, Nomad on 11.24.05
It's nice to get word of eco-innovations in the health care world. Not long ago we discussed the prospects for lower impact medical clinics. We've filled you in on how paper recycling helps fund medical care in Buenos Aires and let you know that the footwear of choice for many healthcare workers comes PVC-free. Now, we can report that if Duluth's St. Luke's Hospital serves as an example, enduring hospital meals won't seem like salt on the wound, so to speak.
Chef Mark Donavan used to work for California Wine Country restaurants where is was easy to source produce from local growers. But he and St. Luke's co-chef LeeAnn Tomczyk faced a completely different animal in Minnesota. In addition to the climactic difference, they had to contend with a large hospital buying group that dictated food distribution. Eventually they were able to secure waivers to purchase hormone-free milk and local produce.
As the first in its region to seek healthy options outside the distribution chain, St. Luke's joins hospitals and schools on the East and West Coasts. With more consumer demand, we should see wide-ranging changes in instutional food sourcing.
More encouraging news can be found at places recommended in past comments on treehugger posts: Hospitals for a Healthy Environment and Health Care Without Harm.
Via Minnesota Public Radio::
This article is really very interesting.. I was in the emergency room a couple of months ago and commented to the hospital staff on how I couldn't find ginger ale anywhere in the hospital, not in vending machines and not in the actual cafeteria, all I could find were Coke products. I found this very strange since ginger ale (the ginger at least) is antibacterial, antinauseant, and just plain healthier than anything they had to sell in the hospital. I consider ginger ale to be mandatory, frankly, over other available beverage. Coke is a diuretic, and is known to rot your gut (not to mention the affects of the caffeine in it). When I went on my ginger ale hunt in the caf I noticed the load of completely unhealthy food (never mind organic and hormone free) they were serving there as well. Fried foods, processed foods, lots of white breadstuffs.. just gross, for a hospital at least.
(More than) three of the biggest hospitals in Montreal serve unhealthy food in the caf, and to their patients, and have contracts with either Coke or Pepsi as food providers.. which means, no ginger ale and lots of crap food products. This royally pissed me off because it wasn't like this when I was a kid (I remember, we had ginger ale and healthier food in the hospitals) and because these products make people even more unhealthy, which then lands them in the medical system when it could have been avoided by maintaining good nutritional habits.. The least hospitals should do is ensure the quality of the food they serve to customers and patients alike in order to set an example for their clients. I would go as far as to say that it should be in the "ethical conduct" mandate for each and every medical facility (to provide good, healthy food).
I recently heard about another innovation that helps medical facilities reduce their environmental impact: PVC/DEHP-free IV-bags and tubing.
This is even of interest outside hospitals, since there are plenty of people who use these in their homes. (I give my cat sub-cutaneous fluids every day and use the same bags they use in hospitals to so do. I wrote a post with more info on this:
http://workerbees.typepad.com/hipandzen/2005/11/environmentfrie.html