Lately, it almost seems as if green is replacing red, white and blue. Everyone is talking about “going green,” using buzzwords such as organic, eco, sustainable, and resource saving; but green means simply taking better care of our environment, including our own bodies. With green finally becoming a topic of mainstream consciousness, some of the top-selling books include Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver and Michael Pollan’s latest bestseller, In Defense of Food, An Eater’s Manifesto. In a nation where obesity and diabetes are more and more becoming dire health care issues, both of these books focus on healthy eating in a way that supports sustainable agriculture.
Amid this nationwide epidemic, it is nice to know that here in Lexington, Central Baptist Hospital is trying to do something to address these issues and promote wellness, in addition to caring for all of our ailments and delivering the next generation of our children. The hospital administrators are working with their food service providers to serve more local and organic foods, with the shining light coming from Morrison Management Specialist, which is providing both Central Baptist Hospital and the University of Kentucky Hospital with innovative choices in local foods.
Many of you may remember Morrison’s Cafeteria here in Lexington. The restaurants were quite popular with local and out-of-town patrons alike. Morrison’s then sold its cafeterias to Picadilly, which is no longer in business, and have since settled into various endeavors with their two current divisions, Morrison Healthcare Food Services and Morrison Senior Dining.
In order to better serve their clients, in 2001 the Morrison Group teamed with the Compass Group, an international food service group named the world’s 13th largest employer by Fortune magazine in 2007. This merged group is aware of the high price our country is paying for obesity and poor eating habits. Compass has pledged its support for purchasing sustainable foods that will improve the health of all eaters in their network. They are choosing to support local farmers who have environmentally safe practices.
This brings us home to Central Baptist Hospital. According to Rand Cimino, head of food services at Central Baptist, the hospital has adopted a strict policy in its food service: “The health and wellness of our hospital community is our highest priority, therefore we fry our menu items in trans fat-free oils. We also use cage-free shell eggs.”
Central Baptist Food Services also offers Weight Watchers-approved menus.
Serving seasonal, fresh foods is the hospital’s next step. The administrators and food services providers need to find a supplier who raises enough quantity to provide them with these products. Another requirement before implementing this plan is the surety that the food is raised in an environmentally sound manner.
Institutions must be good stewards and take extra precautions to ensure the food safety of the products they offer for public consumption. Currently, the Kentucky Department of Agriculture inspects organic farms, assuring the public that items labeled organic are truly organic. Jeff Dabbelt, manager of the Lexington Farmers Market, inspects farms that are a part of the Lexington Farmers Market for food safety and proper management, and at the present time, many farmers carry product liability insurance to protect the consumer. With these structures in place, Central Baptist is that much closer to helping us create a local food system.
Another obstacle to eating healthier was the price of locally grown and organic foods, but the price of fuel has now helped level that playing field. It is no longer the most cost-efficient option to ship in cheap food that travels from far away places, making this an added bonus in Central Baptist’s quest to offer these healthier options.
Although the opportunity to eat local foods and the awareness of the environment’s plight is greater than it used to be, there is still a long road ahead in order to meet the public’s wants and needs in ways that serve both the farmer and the consumer. For an institution like Central Baptist Hospital to venture into this arena is a very positive step, and hopefully will serve as a green light to help other local institutions move forward with healthy initiatives of their own.