Hospitals Opting for Organic, Local Foods
by Jeff McIntire-Strasburg, St. Louis, MO 
on 08.16.06
We've taken note of a number of efforts to change the first kind of meal many people would associate with overly-processed, institutionalized food: the school lunch. Hospital food likely comes in a close second for that distinction, and several organizations are working with the health care industry to shift its menu from "low-grade, tasteless and nutritionally deficient" food to healthier and more sustainable options. SustainableBusiness.com's Insider takes a look today at efforts hospitals are taking to provide patients with more appetizing food that's also better for them and the planet. Among the changes occurring in hospital food service:
- Catholic Healthcare West has an education program about the ecological impacts of the food system and is eliminate rBGH use in dairy.
- Kaiser Permanente: is creating guidelines for sustainable food sourcing that includes local, antibiotic/hormone-free meats and dairy, and serving fresh fruit for desert. It has farmer's markets at 25 of its medical facilities.
- Dominican Hospital (Santa Cruz, California) buys produce from a local organic farm and has a vegetable and flower garden on-site.
- Good Shepherd Medical Center (Hermiston, Oregon) has eliminated fat fryers, serves organic produce and rBGH-free milk, and is eliminating food additives. Instead of beef, the hospital serves naturally lean bison.
- St. Luke's Hospital (Duluth, Minnesota) serves only fair-trade coffee, rBGH-free milk, and wild salmon, and has a locally grown organic salad bar.
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I always find it ironic when I see a "McDonalds" or some such Within a hospital!
I always think to myself
"are they trying to drum up some business?"
Here's some more information on Gary Cohen, the founder of Health Care Without Harm:
"While writing a community guidebook on toxic chemicals, Gary Cohen felt compassion for families living near waste sites who were struggling to protect their children. He cofounded Health Care Without Harm in 1996 to inspire health care providers to adopt healthier products and practices. The organization has built a collaborative network of 435 groups in 52 countries. Health Care Without Harm and its partners have closed more than 90 percent of medical waste incinerators in the U.S. and have virtually eliminated mercury medical products in U.S. hospitals. Plans call for a coordinated global effort to educate medical providers, change harmful practices and influence manufacturers to sell healthier products by demonstrating the efficacy and affordability of alternatives. ( taken from http://www.skollfoundation.org/grantees/2006.asp )
My mother was a dietitian at hospitals for many years. She would be astounded by these changes. But of all places, doesn't it make sense to serve the best food in hospitals?
In what way is organic food healthier? Numerous large independent studies by governments have found no nutritional benefits. (In the UK organic food adverts had to remove the claim that it is healthier because they could not provide scientific evidence.)
Hospitals in the US are wasting money, which could better be spent on proper health care, by buying more expensive food with no nutirtional benefit.
Rjest - Health is a difficult concept to prove and for a variety of reasons I believe that organic food is more healthful. But even if you don't believe that, it's still insanity to spray toxic chemicals on our food, chemicals which leach into the ground water. Nobody disputes that these residues now appear in the food themselves and in our bodies - the only debate is whether they cause us any harm in the low levels that they appear. I'd rather err on the side of having no toxic chemicals in my food. Finally, pestisides are starting to kill beneficial insects such as bees. Bees fertilize 30% of the food crops in the U.S. If we kill all the bees, we'll have widespread food shortages here in the U.S! Just my 2 cents.
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