Hospitals offer better food to answer health concerns

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by Meghana Keshavan / Detroit Free Press | Monday, July 14, 2008 1:38 PM CDT | () comments

Concerned about the increase in cases of diabetes and obesity, many hospitals across the country are distributing healthier, fresher, locally grown food.

Bronson Methodist Hospital in Kalamazoo, Mich., is one of 127 health care facilities to sign the Healthy Food in Health Care pledge, an initiative begun in 2005 that outlines goals for hospitals to improve the quality of their food.

“We signed the pledge back in May, but we've been involved in providing healthy food for many years now,'' said Michael Rowe, director of food service at Bronson.

The pledge's objectives include:

-- Working with local farmers and suppliers to cut down on food transportation costs and support the local economy.

-- Increasing the amount of fresh fruits and vegetables on the menu.

-- Using hormone-free milk, antibiotic-free poultry, pesticide-free produce and fair-trade coffee.

-- Minimizing food waste by using recyclable packaging products.

Bronson's food services division has a team led by Rowe that meets regularly to explore environmentally friendly options. Through their efforts, all milk used at the hospital is hormone-free, purchased from the Michigan-based Country Fresh dairy. They serve cage-free, antibiotic-free chicken from Otto's Chicken Farm in Middleville, Mich., and buy various goods from local vendors. Of the $3 million yearly budget, $12,000 is set aside exclusively to buy foods from local farmers.

Rowe's “got an ambitious plan over there,” said Ruth Blackburn, an activist at the Ann Arbor, Mich.-based Ecology Center. “Chickens raised without the use of antibiotics are very important from a health standpoint, but not a lot of producers are doing that yet, so the supply is such that the cost is pretty steep.”

Raising cage-free, antibiotic-free chickens is at least 20 percent more expensive than raising traditionally farmed birds, according to Garry Otto, owner of Otto's Chicken Farm.

Because of the volume needed, most of the food for patients at Bronson still comes from large-scale distributors like Gordon Food Service in nearby Grand Rapids.

Though Bronson is a leader in the healthier-food movement, it isn't the only hospital going in that direction.

At Munson Medical Center in Traverse City, Mich., farmers are invited to the cafeteria each month to sell produce.

St. John Providence Hospital in Southfield, Mich., joined with Southfield's Cornerstone Development Authority to host a farmers' market last year.

Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit also hosted a farmers’ market last year, sponsored by the Michigan Department of Agriculture, where more than 20 local growers sold organic produce, breads and homemade wares. The hospital plans another farmers’ market on Aug. 22.

Another Henry Ford Health System hospital in West Bloomfield, Mich., will begin selling locally produced organic food in the cafeteria next year, said Jill Horowitz, a registered dietitian with Henry Ford's Heart Smart program.

“It’s becoming more of a mainstream thing to bring in organic, locally grown foods, so we're going to start transitioning ourselves,'' Horowitz said.

The Ecology Center’s Blackburn said that she hopes to have Rowe speak to other hospitals about the steps he's taken toward healthier food service.

“Nobody is saying, ‘Do all these things at once,’” Blackburn said. “It’s a series of steps, and each facility must take the steps that work for them.”